by Tami Lund
Sander’s gaze darted from Tanner to Olivia, to Dane and back to Olivia. Dane kept his gaze downcast. Olivia’s face reddened, but she lifted her chin, steady and determined. Tanner simply sat back and watched the byplay.
“Daughter, you cannot mean— ”
“Yes,” she said very quietly. “In fact, I was already mated to Tanner before you performed the ceremony.”
“That is impossible! You cannot—you—why did you not tell me?”
Olivia’s eyes narrowed. “You would not give me the chance. I have been trying to tell you for weeks.”
“You—you— ” Sander’s head volleyed back and forth, between Olivia and Tanner, as if he was watching a tennis match. “This cannot be.” He backed away from the table. “I will not allow it. I am king of the Lightbearers,” he declared from halfway across the room. “My daughter is mated to Dane, and they will produce a bevy of children. Their firstborn son will be my heir. The coterie will be fine. We will find a way without you—without your money. I will not give my daughter to you just to save my kingdom.”
“You already tried that,” Tanner commented, sounding as calm as if they were speaking of the weather. “You sold her to Dane to save your kingdom.”
Sander did the fish out of water routine again.
“In this case, though, I am not buying your daughter. I like to think I don’t have to.”
“You don’t,” Olivia assured him, her beautiful blue eyes looking at him, shining with all the love he knew she had for him.
“Olivia,” Sander said. “You are my daughter.”
“That check is a gift,” Tanner explained. “There are no strings attached. If Olivia does not want to be my mate, then I will walk away. But the money is yours, free and clear.”
“Nothing is ever free,” Sander snapped.
“I am your mate,” Olivia confirmed. “I don’t want you to leave. Not ever again.”
Tanner gave her a brief, appreciative smile, and then turned his focus to Sander. His demeanor instantly hardened. “You’re right,” he said. “Nothing is free. As your daughter intends for me to stay on as her mate, then I intend to take advantage of the position and get this coterie back onto solid footing. And you are going to do whatever I tell you to, so that your subjects accept my changes.”
“No. I refuse.” Sander backed toward the door. “I am summoning my guards. I want you out of this coterie. All of you.”
Sander was a hell of a stubborn man. No doubt Olivia had inherited her stubbornness from him. His life with her would not be entirely smooth, Tanner was sure of it. But he was equally certain that it would be worth it.
He pulled out his trump card.
“She is carrying my pup.”
A collective gasp went up around the room. Dane looked as if he wanted to examine Olivia himself, right that minute. Olivia was serene. Sander’s eyes might pop out of their sockets if he widened them any further.
Genevieve was the first to speak. “My grandbabe?” she gurgled, and then she stood up and rushed around the table, pulled her daughter into her arms and squeezed the breath out of her.
“My grandbabe,” she chortled, and she immediately began planning a party to make the announcement to the entire coterie. Tanner decided to hold off on bursting that particular bubble. He had to actually ensure the pup was growing inside his mate, first.
Sander was so crestfallen, Tanner almost felt sorry for him. The king looked at Dane, as if seeking some sort of reassurance there, but he just shook his head.
“I’m sorry, your majesty,” Dane said. “I do not wish to be mated to Olivia. She is like a sister to me. We have not consummated the mating. We cannot.” His gaze shifted sideways to look at Tanner.
“He’s right,” Tanner confirmed. “I would gnaw off his arm if he tried.”
Sander took several steps backwards, stumbling into the sideboard. Cecilia snickered into her napkin. Finn rolled his eyes.
“My grandbabe,” Genevieve said again, and then she herded Olivia toward the door. “You need rest, sweetling. I am sure Tanner’s sperm is exceedingly strong, however you are combating my heritage with this pregnancy. You must take care. Do not overtax yourself. Do not...” She listed all the various things Olivia should not do as she guided her out of the room and upstairs to rest. Sander trailed after them. Tanner watched them leave, and then turned and looked at the remaining occupants of the room.
“What about us?” Lisa asked quietly.
Tanner nodded. “It’s your choice. The pack down in Detroit will take you in and accept you as their own. Or you can stay.”
“Stay,” Dane blurted. All gazes shifted to look at him. He reddened under the scrutiny and cleared his throat while tugging at the collar of his shirt. “Please,” he added, looking directly at Lisa.
Her eyes widened for a moment, and then narrowed. “I like your cottage,” she said. “And I like your bed.”
“Oh,” Dane said faintly, and his blush deepened.
Tanner shoved a fistful of cinnamon bun into his mouth to keep from laughing out loud.
He had become a pack master after all.
Epilogue
Tanner lay on his back on the hammock, with Olivia draped across his body. They were both fully clothed, but she could tell by the ridge pressing into her back that his thoughts were straying toward activities involving a distinct lack of clothing. That was okay. Her thoughts were on the same subject. He gently rocked the hammock with one foot nudging the ground.
His hand flattened on her abdomen. Magic flared for a moment. His entire body tensed. She twisted her head and saw that he was grinning.
“We are officially no longer lying to your parents,” he said.
“I know.”
He arched his brow in question.
“My breasts are so sensitive I could hardly stand to be in the shower this morning,” she complained.
Tanner lifted his hands, cupped her breasts and sent soothing magic into her body. She sighed and relaxed against him for a moment, and then she pushed his hands away.
“Thank you, however, next time could you make sure no one is around first?”
Tanner lifted his head and watched as Cecilia and Finn stood a few feet away, arguing over who knew what.
“Your father will have his heir in less than eight months’ time.”
Olivia gave him a startled look. “You know it’s a boy?”
He nodded. “This Lightbearer magic gig isn’t so hard to master.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’ve been talking to Alexa, haven’t you?”
He grinned. “I asked her to move into the beach house, actually.”
“What did she say?”
“She assured me it wasn’t necessary, and that no woman within the coterie had ever given birth faster than she was able to get to her.”
“You still aren’t going to let it go, are you?”
“Nope. So long as you have no complications, I can wait until the last month. But if you have any issues whatsoever...”
Olivia frowned. “We have no way of knowing what will happen. This is unprecedented. A shifter and a Lightbearer, procreating. I’m not sure my father will declare our pup as the heir.”
Tanner shrugged. “He’ll come around.”
“We have a long ways to go, don’t we?”
Tanner wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. “We’ll make it,” he said with absolute conviction.
Olivia believed him. They would make it.
The End
Paranormal Romance by Tami Lund ~
Lightbearer Series
First Light (prequel)
Broken Light (prequel #2; Part of the Claiming My Valentine anthology releasing February 2017)
Into the Light
Dawning of Light
Light Beyond the Darkness
Change in the Light
Cupid’s Light
Twisted Fate Series
Of Love and Darkness
Prim and P
roper Fate
Prisoner of Fate – releasing July 2017
Resist
(Part of the Blood Courtesans Series, written by multiple authors)
All’s Fair: Love & Warlocks
Mirror, Mirror
Contemporary Romance by Tami Lund ~
Sexy Bad Neighbor
(co-written with Misti Murphy; releasing February 2017)
Tough Love Series
Naked Truth
Undercover Heat
Delicious Deception
Candy Crush
The Bartender
Love Gumbo
Separation Anxiety
All above books can be purchased through most online retailers, with the exception of Separation Anxiety, which is a free read available only on Tami Lund’s website.
http://tamilund.com
If you read one of Tami’s books, consider leaving a review on the retail site from which you purchased it. Thank you!
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Tami Lund is an author, a wine drinker, an award winner, and a lover of romance. She writes happily ever afters, one book at a time. You should sign up for her newsletter for updates, sales, free reads, and a regular dose of her quirky sense of humor: http://www.subscribepage.com/Tami_Lund