by Ashlee Sinn
I kissed the top of my mate’s head and then her belly. “I won’t be long,” I promised.
“I love you,” she whispered as I started to walk away.
The authorities had set up a perimeter, keeping all of the shifters and the dead mutants inside. Once the guard arrived, they’d ushered the human bystanders away, allowing just a few news vans. Major was there, along with Anton, talking to the media and saying who knows what to keep them at bay.
“Need some clothes?” Seth asked.
I hadn’t heard him sneak up next to me and had to push down a growl. “Yeah, thanks.” Grabbing the outfits both Danika and I had worn, I shook my head. “This is crazy.”
“No shit,” he said, brushing his dark hair out of his eyes.
“I need to thank you for helping me and Danika,” I said. “We may have still ended up here, but those two days together were exactly what we needed in order to survive today. So, thank you.”
Seth huffed. “Well, perhaps you can mention that gratitude to Scarlett.”
“Scarlett?”
“Yeah,” he snorted. “She’s not thrilled with me right now.”
I looked at him in surprise, noticing how his wolf scent filled the air right now. “But I thought it had been her idea.”
“Umm,” he stalled. “Not exactly.”
“Seth,” I sighed, knowing just how much he’d risked. “You shouldn’t have gone against your alpha for us.”
“Says the man who challenged his,” he snickered.
“I didn’t challenge Brandt directly.”
“Regardless, it was the right thing to do. She’ll get over it.”
I followed his gaze to where Scarlett was standing and talking to her mate, Brennan. “Are you sure about that?”
Seth shrugged and pushed his hair away again. “I really don’t care.”
As he walked away, I studied his movements. Shoulders hunched, steps frigid…something else was going on with the second of the Tik’a pack. And while the two of us had only recently become better friends, I reminded myself to invite him over for a drink sometime soon.
A commotion near a couple of police cars drew my attention that way. As I yanked on my jeans, I heard a familiar voice. And she was pissed. “Get your hands off me!” she spat.
The police and guardsmen standing around her blocked her tiny frame, but there was no mistaken the pissed off witch trying to get through the blockade.
“Do you know who I am?” she shouted.
Apparently, they didn’t because they didn’t budge. Bo was busy piling up the dead bodies on the far side of the field, so I stepped forward and offered my help. “Is there a problem?”
Immediately, two guardsmen spun on their heels and aimed their guns at me. “Stand back,” one shouted.
I lifted my hands, the left still holding Danika’s clothes, and stopped. “I said, is there a problem.”
“There’s going to be if you don’t…you don’t…” one of the guards started to gag. “Stand back or…” Gag.
Kenzie laughed and quickly covered her mouth to stop the giggles. I raised a brow in her direction and got a shrug in return. The tiny witch had cast some sort of spell on the man and it was fucking hilarious.
“Jones, are you…” Croak. “Did I just…” Croak.
Kenzie coughed to hide the laugh and I had to do the same. “Sir, can she please take a look at my wife? She’s injured and Kenzie’s a doctor.”
Croak. Gag.
Kenzie pushed past the men and wrapped her arm around mine. “See ya’ suckers,” she cooed as we turned and walked away.
“What did you do to them?” I chuckled.
“Oh, just a little street magic. So…Danika’s your wife?” she teased.
“And you’re a doctor. Don’t forget.”
Suddenly, Kenzie’s face sobered up. “Bo called and said she was pregnant but that her father—”
“Helped save the baby,” I finished. “Although, I would feel better knowing that you took a look too.”
She rubbed her own giant belly. Due in a month, I was surprised at the amount of energy she still seemed to have. “You do know I’m not really a doctor, right?” she asked.
I nodded. “I know, but still. You have…ways.”
With a giggle, Kenzie shook her head of red curls. “That I do.”
When we reached Danika, I helped her stand and Kenzie gave her a hug. Danika didn’t do affection, so I was pleasantly surprised when she embraced the tiny witch back.
“So, it looks like we’re going to need to set up some play dates,” Kenzie said with a wink.
Danika laughed and glanced my way. “Looks like we do.”
“Kenzie, can you sense if everything is okay?” I asked.
Danika reached for my hand while Kenzie rested her own on Danika’s still-flat stomach. “You’re already being overprotective,” she teased.
“Well, can you blame him?” Fiona asked and then covered her mouth. “Sorry, none of my business.”
Danika and I both laughed. These shifters weren’t used to talking to Danika like she was one of their own. But with the way everyone was pulling together today, I hoped that would quickly change.
“They are strong,” Kenzie whispered, and then she bent forward and put her ear up against Danika’s skin. “And warm.”
“Warm?” Fiona asked, still watching in awe.
“Yeah,” Kenzie said. “I can’t explain it, but they are different.”
“Wait,” Danika said with a pinched brow. “They?”
Kenzie beamed up at us. “I sense two.”
“Twins!” I shouted. “I told you grizzlies usually have twins!” Squeezing my mate as hard as I could, I picked her up and twirled her around several times. “We are going to have a house full of Zane’s!”
Danika laughed underneath me. “But little girls,” she reminded me.
“Soccer stars! That’s what we’ll make them.”
She kissed my lips as I set her down. “Sounds like a lovely plan.”
I could never imagine feeling this complete in my life. But here I was, holding the woman of my dreams who carried the first of our babies. Sure, the field around us was a stark reminder that we had messes in our lives, but right now I didn’t care. As long as I got to hold on to my family, I would be a better man for it.
“It’s time,” Brandt suddenly said.
We all flinched at his presence. “Time for what?” I asked.
“The press conference.”
“What?” Danika said, quickly slipping into her clothes. “Who arranged this?”
“Your father,” he said, and then put up his hand to stop her protests, “and us. We need to get our story out today.”
“And what is our story?” Fiona asked, looking over Brandt’s shoulder to where Major was directing the cameras to set up.
“Anton is going to confess that he’s been experimenting on humans and that they got out of his control. We helped stop them.”
“But they’ll crucify my father,” Danika whispered.
Brandt gave her a sympathetic look. “It’s what he wants to do. And honestly? We didn’t really have any other options.”
She nodded and sucked in a long breath. “Let’s go,” she said to me.
“Only Anton and Major will be speaking,” Brandt clarified.
“I’m good with that. But I still want to support him.” Danika really did love her father, somewhere deep inside.
Brandt led us to the side of the field where everyone else was starting to gather. The couples found each other and stood by their mates. Those without, stood on the other side with arms crossed and scowls warning the guards not to interfere. I caught a glimpse of Seth, the pain in his eyes so reminiscent of my own before I met Danika. I felt for him and hoped that someday soon, he, too, would find his match.
The camera lights flicked on and Anton, covered in his dark trench coat, cleared his throat. He introduced himself, admitted to owning a laboratory that di
d research to “better shifter’s lives”, and then confessed that he’d made a mistake. He answered a rapid firing of questions that covered everything from the burned lab to the pile of bodies lying in the field. I must admit that he handled it well. Brandt and Major stayed close by to jump in if needed, but Anton Drakov had a way with words. In no time at all, he seemed to calm the reporters and appease their fears.
But he shocked us all with his last statement. “And as a gesture of good faith, I will be the first shifter to officially register with the federal government.”
“Register?” Danika whispered to Major. “That’s happening?”
“I doubt we can avoid it after today,” he said sadly. “There are so many unknowns right now.”
I felt Danika’s sigh before she looked up at me. “We are entering a new world.”
Touching her belly, and kissing her forehead, I said, “Yes, we are. And we’ll be just fine.”
Today was a big day.
Zane had been rushing around his trailer all morning, trying to figure out what to wear and talking on the phone way more than he usually does. I suspected something was going on with him, but given the plan for today, I let it slide.
A month had passed since my father incited the battle at Fritz Creek and the ISC had been working furiously with the federal government to make sure the registration process was fair and valid. There were protests, both for and against the mandatory registration. There had been riots. And I had been behind the scenes working closely with Major, Brandt, Scarlett, and Marcus in Alaska to ensure that we would still be allowed to keep some of our anonymity.
“Are you ready yet?” I shouted down the hall to Zane after shoving a donut in my mouth. These babies were ferocious eaters and I could never seem to keep up with my appetite. Secretly, I loved it. I’d been nesting big time, a trait, I’d learned, was exaggerated by my dragon blood. And I’d been eating. A lot. Everything in front of me was fair game, something else I never could have imagined doing in front of anyone before.
Zane bounced down the hall, fooling around with his tie and cursing each time he tried to wrap it correctly. “Here, let me,” I said with a smile, grabbing the fabric and whipping it into shape.
“What would I do without you, my little trailer park dragon?”
I giggled at his new nickname for me. He’d worried that his home wouldn’t be up to par with my demands, but little did he know that I felt more at home here than in any of the big condos and penthouses I’d resided in over the years. This felt like our home. A place surrounded by our friends and a community where our twin girls would be able to grow and thrive.
I kissed Zane’s nose and pulled him toward the door. “Come on, we have to get there before they close.”
“Didn’t you make an appointment?” he teased. He hated how much I liked to plan things.
“They don’t take appointments. Now come on before I singe you.”
He slapped my ass on the way to the car and we drove to the county clerk’s office laughing at stupid jokes and discussing potential baby names.
When we arrived, I noticed that many of our friends were standing in the parking lot. Registering did not require a group effort. “Zane…what’s going on?”
“Hmm?” he asked, totally guilty.
“What did you do?”
He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. “You’ll see.”
As soon as he parked, Zane helped me out of the car, even though I was perfectly healed now. However, a secret submissive part of me liked being taken care of so I would never complain about his chivalry. Major was the first to greet us, Fiona walking along beside him with a camera over her neck. They were both dressed up, igniting my suspicions even more.
“Welcome,” Major said with a wink.
“Why are you here? Are you registering too?” I asked.
They shared a look between them and smiled. “No, we registered last week. We’re here to—”
“To show support,” Zane cut in. “We all know how big of a deal it is for you to register as a dragon. And everyone just wanted to be here for you.”
“Bull shit,” I said with a grin. “Zane Miller, what have you done?”
A petite pair of arms squeezed my ribs and I looked straight down into a mop of red hair. “How are the babies?” Kenzie asked, already rubbing my belly.
“Small, compared to yours,” I teased. “Aren’t you due like…any minute now.”
“Yep,” Bo cut in, resting his hand over her shoulder. “But she says she still has two days.”
Kenzie shrugged and looked confident. “I do. They’ll be here on Sunday. At ten in the morning.”
“Wow,” I breathed. “You really know that?”
“I do,” she smiled again.
“Well…I’m happy for you,” I said, not really knowing how to respond.
“You’re the one that should be happy,” she said, jerking her chin toward someone standing behind me.
I turned, suspicion getting the best of me, and looked into an open space. So, I dropped my gaze only to see Zane down on one knee holding out a stuffed dragon and a stuffed bear in one hand. “Zane?” I asked.
“So, I thought since we’re here, and you like efficiency so much, that we’d kill two birds with one stone.” His voice shook but everyone around us smiled widely. Fiona was already snapping away.
“By registering together?” I asked.
He reached into his jacket pocket and flipped open a red velvet container. In it sat the most gorgeous ruby and diamond ring I’d ever seen. “By getting married,” he said lightly. “Danika Drakov, will you please do me the honor of making an honest man out of me?”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. His flushed cheeks matched his red hair and scruff, and the way his hands shook made me love him that much more. “How did you pull this off?” I asked. We hadn’t spent much time apart this past month.
“I have good friends,” he said and I didn’t miss the proud tone in his voice. Zane had to fight to win those friends back and he’d done it. His resilience and kindness was something I hoped our daughters would inherit.
“So why the dragon and the grizzly?” I grabbed the two stuffed animals and held them close to my chest.
Zane shrugged and stood, still holding out the ring. “Perhaps we’ll have both.”
My heart squeezed a little, knowing I couldn’t have a dragon baby. But it didn’t matter because here I was, surrounded by friends and an inherited family and being asked to marry the most wonderful person in the world.
“So?” Zane asked. “What do you say?”
I held out my hand and let him slip the ring on my finger. “I say yes.”
He hooted into the air, pick me up, and spun me around like he always did. Major and Bo clapped him on the back while Kenzie, Scarlett, Sutton, Emma, and Fiona checked out the ring.
“Are you coming in?” someone yelled from the glass doorway leading into the county clerk’s office. “We’re closing in ten minutes.”
Zane held out his elbow and let me wrap his hand around his tight bicep. “You ready, dragon?”
“I am,” I said with a smile.
“We’ll meet you at Brandt’s,” Major said with a wink, leaving me to believe there was more in store for us.
“Thanks,” Zane waved over his shoulder, but his eyes never left mine. “I can’t believe this is really happening,” he mused.
“Why? We’re perfect for each other.”
“Well, no shit. That’s what I’d been saying all along.”
I loved the way he smelled so happy and content and I also loved the way he kept looking at my belly. Zane Miller had been the best thing to ever happen to me and I didn’t think he’d ever fully understand how much that meant to a dragon. He was my treasure, mine to protect. Always.
And as we walked inside to sign the papers that would make it official, I knew I would love this man and our family forever.
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Want more of the Alaska Shifters?
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