by T. L. Reeve
Aurora was there by his side. She took his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. She didn’t say a word. She didn’t have to. Her silent support bolstered him when he needed it most. As they got to the truck, he helped her onto her seat. For long moments, he stared at her, amazed someone as strong and vulnerable as her could find him appealing. He was the luckiest bastard in the whole world, and he didn’t care who knew it.
“Come on,” she said. “Let’s go home.”
Mackenzie placed a quick kiss to her lips. “As you wish, mate.”
Epilogue
Three months later...
Kalkin sat behind the wheel of his enforcer, staring out over the new compound made specifically for Christoph’s new pride. The majority of the families were moved in, and the small children and babies whose parents had been killed, were being taken care of at the orphanage. As for the threat of the St. Johns, nothing had materialized yet, but he trusted Blackhorn’s intel. If Jerome said they were coming, they were.
His phone rang as he spied a heavily pregnant Bell, taking Maliki for a walk to the small playground Rapier built for them. Kalkin pushed the green button on his phone. “Raferty.” His lip curled when he answered the call.
“It’s me.”
Kalkin sat up a little straighter. “Kid. How are things going there?”
“Strained,” Adrian answered. “Fixing shit for Jefferson and now this bullshit with Holly has everyone a little strung out, which is why I am calling you.”
The kid had spent Thanksgiving with them. In the year since he’d left town and moved to Boston, Adrian had grown into his role as the new head of PBH. He might not like it, but he was good at it. “Sorry, kid. Seems Holly had her own plans in the end. We couldn’t prepare for it.”
“About that.”
“What’s going on?” Kalkin heard the hesitation in the boy’s voice.
“You should know she’s been neutralized.”
Kalkin sat up a bit straighter. “Fuck me, kid. Warn me next time.”
“I couldn’t. If I told anyone my plan, it could have been thwarted. As it stands, she was killed somewhere between Window Rock and Boston,” he said. “No one will ever find her.”
“Can’t say I’m broken up about it, but she was your flesh and blood. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I had no ties to her. Anyway, I received the information when I went on a date with Charles’s Assistant District Attorney.” Adrian closed a door wherever he was. “I did what you and Mister—er—Jochi taught me to do.”
Kalkin chuckled. “Did you show her a good time.”
“Him, actually and I’d like to think I did. He told me everything,” Adrian admitted. “How are Hayden and Bodhi doing? You know... After everything.”
“As well as expected, considering. Your nieces and nephews are growing like weeds, too,” Kalkin said. “Should I send you pictures?”
“No. No need putting them in harm’s way. Besides, our deal is still in play,” Adrian replied. “Bodhi and Hayden have been through enough where the Geithner name is concerned.”
“Eh, you’re Raferty through and through, boy.” Kalkin glanced up as a blacked-out SUV pulled into the parking lot where Bell played with Maliki. “I hate to cut this short, kid.”
“Sure, no problem. If you need anything else,” Adrian said. “Don’t hesitate to call.”
“I might just do that.” Kalkin hung up the phone then grabbed his radio. “Get ready.”
“We’re in position,” Logan said. “Waiting for your instructions.”
“Nico, are you set?”
“Yeah. I’m on the ridge with Jenna. Whenever you’re ready,” Nico replied.
“Remember, don’t shoot unless Bell and Maliki are in imminent danger,” he reminded the team. “This is a control and capture mission.”
A man dressed in a black on black suit with a blood-red tie, stepped out of the back passenger-side door. Tattoos covered his neck and hands, while a single spider tattoo was perched at the corner of his eye. He reached into his jacket, and Kalkin held his breath as the man pulled out a small case and opened it. Cigarettes. The guy put one to his lips then lit it before continuing toward Bell.
Rapier was going to kick his ass later, even though all of this had been Bell’s idea. Since the St. Johns and the Makino families weren’t making a move, she decided to throw out a little bait. Neither of them could turn down a very pregnant Bell. In her estimation, they’d use Bell for leverage, never realizing they were falling into a trap.
“Steady, everyone,” Kalkin muttered. “Don’t go too soon, or else we’ll lose them.”
The man raised his hand in greeting to Bell as he approached. Bell turned and gave him one of her biggest smiles while placing her hand on her belly. They talked for a moment, then when the man saw his opening as Maliki distracted Bell, he snatched at Bell’s arm, pulling her toward the waiting SUV.
“Go! Go!” Kalkin yelled, jumping out of his vehicle. The SUV sped away before the man could get Bell inside, and Hayden broke off from the vehicles in the parking lot to give chase. The man who’d been struggling with Bell, pulled a gun from his waistband. Shit.
Kalkin heard the whistle seconds after the bullet pierced the man’s hand. A second one got him in the shoulder, dropping him to the ground. Logan was there in a flash, taking the man to the ground, cuffing his hands behind his back.
“We’re clear,” Logan said. “One in custody.”
Bell sat down on the bench and sighed. “That was intense.”
“You should try doing it every day,” Kalkin teased. “You and the cubs okay?”
She nodded. “We’re fine. They’re active. Must be all the excitement.”
Kalkin chuckled. “Must be. Go on home. We’ll call you to get your statement.” He glanced over at Maliki who watched everyone with keen interest. “You.”
The boy pointed to himself. “M-me?”
“Yep.” Kalkin crooked his finger at him. “Come here.”
The little boy cautiously made his way to Kalkin. “Y-yes.”
“Take care of your, what’s the word, Jackson says... Mamă, and make sure she gets home okay,” Kalkin said.
The boy nodded. “Bine.” He ambled over to Bell and took her hand. “Come. We go now.”
Bell giggled. “Thank you, Kalkin.”
“Don’t mention it.” He stared after her as she and Maliki started for home.
The radio at his side cracked, and Hayden’s voice came through clear and filled with excitement. “10-50, two in custody. That’ll teach those bastards to run on me. I deployed two disablers causing the SUV to fishtail and come to a stop in the ditch. Nico and Jenna are here with me securing the suspects.”
“Good work,” Kalkin said. “I’ll have a couple of units meet you there for transport and clean up.”
“We’re at the corner of Apache and Sierra Vista Way, near the grocery store,” she said.
“10-4,” Kalkin replied. “Units will be in route shortly.”
“By the look of these tattoos, I’d say Yakuza,” Logan said, lifting the guy up. “What do you think?”
Kalkin gave the man a once over. Though he was covered in tattoos and Asian, it didn’t automatically mean they’d caught a member of the Yakuza, for all Kalkin knew he could be a member of the Triad or a Tong, too. “Maybe not. I’m not sure. I’ll have Ulysses meet us at the Sheriff’s Department after he gets patched up at the hospital.” Kalkin grabbed his phone and typed out a quick message to Ulysses.
BigPoppaAlpha: All clear. Meet me at SD in two hours.
UlyssesYamomoto: Can do. Bringing Aislinn with me.
BigPoppaAlpha: Good maybe she can identify the men. See you soon.
Kalkin put his phone away then stepped aside as the EMT and Paramedics rushed over to assess the suspect. If this didn’t bring the head of the Makino family and the St. John family out of the shadows, he didn’t know what would.
Mackenzie rushed through the doors of the clinic, Aurora in
his arms, Abby, Riley, Alika, and Liam right on his heels. They’d only been opening a few boxes in the kitchen after moving, when Aurora fainted, almost hitting her head on the table. Had it not been for Alika and Liam being right there, he might have lost her.
“Danielle!” Makenzie called out, pushing into the small examination room.
Danielle rushed through the door, easing her way between the kids to come up next to Mackenzie. “What happened?”
“We were unpacking after the move. She didn’t say anything was wrong, but I turned my back for a second, and she fell over. If it wasn’t for the boys...” Mackenzie swallowed hard. “I brought her right here.”
After the last day of the trial, Mackenzie and Aurora moved on with their lives together. He’d even gone back to work, and as of two days ago, they were officially homeowners of a brand-new house Rapier and the guys had built earlier in the year. He hadn’t allowed Aurora to do too much of the heavy lifting since she’d still been working at night. He and the boys had been quite capable of doing the majority of the moving, however, since she had the day off, she joined in. Now, he regretted it.
“Okay, I want everyone out, but you,” Danielle said, pointing to Mackenzie. “Why don’t you guys go over and watch a movie with the other kids?”
Riley looked up at Danielle with big eyes. “Okay.”
“She’s fine,” Danielle said. “I promise, but your father and I need to speak.”
Liam grabbed Abby and Riley’s hands. “Come on, let’s give them time. If Danielle says Aurora’s okay, she is. We trust our aunt.”
When the kids left the room, Danielle turned to Mackenzie. “Why were you having her help you? She’s pregnant!”
Mackenzie sat down hard in the chair behind him. “What?”
She sighed. “You, dumbass. You smelled it on her in the courthouse the day of the trial. I know it and you know it.”
He had. He chalked it up to wishful thinking, though, because it’d been too soon after the full moon. “I didn’t... I mean I did, but it was too soon.”
Danielle shook her head. “No, it’s not. Caden knows immediately, so does Kalkin and Jase. You didn’t want to get your hopes up, did you?”
He didn’t say either way. “What now?” Nervous energy skittered through his stomach.
“Now, we hook up an IV because she’s a little dehydrated, and we do a blood test, but I know she is pregnant.”
Danielle went to her cabinet and grabbed everything she needed then set to work. When she had the vial of blood, she went over to her centrifuge. While the saline dripped from the bag and ran through the line hooked to Aurora, he stared at her unmoving body. She was a bit pale and now that he looked at her, she had a slight swell to her belly. He’d have missed it, if he wasn’t paying attention—which he hadn’t been since they’d been prepping for the move.
“The issue with Abby, will we have to worry about it with this pup?” he asked.
Danielle shook her head. “No. Your genetics will prevent it from happening, and it looks like it skipped Aurora, so don’t worry.”
“Easy for you to say,” he muttered.
“Mmm, what’s easy to say?” Aurora went to sit up, but he placed his hand on her arm. “Where am I?”
“At the clinic,” Danielle said, turning to face them. “Do you want the good news or the bad news first?”
“The clinic?” Aurora grabbed the IV line and scrunched her face up. “What happened?”
“You fainted,” Danielle said. “That’s the bad news.”
“Fainted? I don’t faint,” she said, rubbing her face with her free hand. “What’s the good news?”
“You’re pregnant,” Danielle said. “If I go by the numbers, I’d say you’re right at the end of your first trimester, going into your second trimester.”
Makenzie’s gaze snapped to Danielle’s. “What?”
“Aurora, when was your last cycle?”
“Uh, well...” Aurora glanced at Mackenzie. “I think I know when this happened.”
He blinked. “When?”
“The day your wolf took over.” Pink tinged her cheeks. “I... Well, I’ve never been regular, regular. So, I didn’t think anything of it. However, my last cycle was almost four months ago.”
Mackenzie felt the blood drain from his face. “Aurora.”
Danielle laughed. “Guess the wolf knew what it wanted most of all.” She went to the closet near them and pulled out a small palm-size machine. “I only have a fetal doppler here, but I can refer you to an OBGYN not far from here. She works with all of our mothers-to-be and offers home births if you wish to have yours at home, like Keeley and I did with our children, minus Nicolas of course.”
“O-okay,” Aurora said. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” Danielle replied. “Let’s see how strong this little nugget is.”
She turned on the machine while Aurora lifted her shirt. Danielle pressed the wand to Aurora’s lower belly and within seconds, a strong, steady heartbeat echoed in the room. Mackenzie couldn’t believe it. The pup was strong. Healthy. He was going to be a father, again. This time, he promised he’d do it right. No matter what. He took Aurora’s hand as they continued to listen to their pup.
“What do you think?” Danielle asked. “If you’d have to guess the sex?”
Aurora bit her bottom lip before cutting her gaze to Mackenzie. “Boy.”
Mackenzie shrugged. “Girl.”
“I think you’re guess is right, Mac,” Danielle said. “Plus, it would follow the pattern.”
“Pattern?” Aurora quirked a brow.
“Everyone in this family has a boy and a girl. Usually a boy first then a girl or two boys and then a girl. For Caden, it was opposite. He had a daughter first then a son. For Kalkin, it was a boy and girl. Jase was the same twice. Me, I have Royce and now... Her.” Mackenzie pointed to Aurora’s belly then placed his hand there.
“Whoa,” Aurora said. “Crazy genetics.” Then she frowned, and her bottom lip trembled. “Oh, God.”
Danielle was there. “Don’t. Mac and I already talked about it. This baby is fine. She’ll or he’ll have wolf genetics, so it will negate any human malady. You won’t have to worry about PFO.”
Aurora let out a breath and laid back. “Thank goodness.”
“I’m going to go check on the kids and send them back to you. They were all pretty freaked out when you arrived.” Danielle walked to the door. “Congratulation.”
“Thanks, Dani,” Mackenzie said.
“I’m sorry,” Aurora said. “I should have said something before now.”
Mackenzie shook his head. “It’s okay. Everything was crazy. It’s not anyone’s fault. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
“Me, too,” she whispered. “Why do I have the IV, though?”
“Dani said you were dehydrated. So, she hooked you up.”
“Oh...” She glanced around the room. “A baby.”
“Yeah. A baby—pup to be exact.” He inched closer to her. “You okay?”
She shook her head as tears fell down her cheeks. “I feel horrible.”
Mackenzie gathered her up in his arms. “Why do you feel horrible? Are you sick? Is it the IV?”
She shook her head. “I feel like I trapped you, or the wolf and I trapped you. I didn’t want to get pregnant for the sake of getting pregnant.” She shuddered in his arms as she sobbed. “I wasn’t looking for this. I don’t want to be a burden.”
Mackenzie growled. “Girl, look at me.”
She shook her head. “No.”
The growl he let loose with, jerked her attention to him. “I’m happy.” He held her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “So happy.”
“But...”
“No buts. I’m not mad, and the wolf is pretty fucking impressed with himself. Chalk this up to another anomaly with our family. Not sure this has ever happened before.” He kissed her forehead. “We’re going to be just fine.”
“What about Royce and L
iam and Riley and Abby?” She sniffed. “What will they think?”
“Guess we’ll have to ask them.” He brushed away her tears and kissed her. “Don’t cry.”
“Mumsy, why are you crying?” Abby came right to her, and Mackenzie cursed himself for not paying attention to the door.
“How much did you hear?”
“All of it,” Liam said. “So, you’re having a pup?” He inched closer.
Aurora nodded. “But if you don’t mind can we call him or her a ‘baby,’ please.” She tried to smile as more tears rolled down her cheeks.
“A baby?” Riley gasped. “I love babies.”
Liam rolled his eyes. “She’ll be the one to have like twenty kids when she gets older.”
Mackenzie laughed. “All the more grandchildren for us, then.” He glanced at Liam and Riley. “Are you both okay with Aurora and Abby being a part of our new, growing family?”
Liam nodded. “I guess so. Mates are forever, right?”
“They are,” Mackenzie agreed.
“And we really could use a mom,” Riley added. “If you’ll have us as your family, Aurora.”
“So, she is da meme,” Alika said joining them. “Congrats on da hapai.”
Aurora’s bottom lip trembled. “Thank you all so much.”
“Jesus, girls cry a lot,” Liam said, breaking the tension.
Aurora laughed. “It’ll only get worse due to my condition.”
“Uh oh, better gets da chocolate stats,” Alika said.
Liam rolled his eyes. “Dad will. She’s in good hands.”
The door opened once more, and Kalkin stood there, arms crossed over his chest. “You couldn’t let anyone out do you, could you? Not only do you come back from the dead, you also knock your mate up way outside the full moon.” He glanced at Alika and smirked. “Be glad you can’t get knocked up.”
Alika stared up at Kalkin then back to Liam. “I dink he cray-cray. No one hapai me.”
Mackenzie snickered and shook his head. “Well, you know. With the way you, your brother, and our nephew show off with your magic sticks, I guess I had to be original.”
Kalkin snorted. “I’m sure you’ll want a ceremony now, too.”