by Terry Spear
“You’ll regret it.”
“Thanks for the warning.” She hung up on him this time.
“Bad news?”
“I’ll regret leaving the pack, Jared said, hoping an apology for biting me would change my mind, but he wasn’t sincere in the least. I’m sure his brother made him apologize.”
Aidan had already gotten his hackles up. “If they think they’re going to do anything to make you regret leaving the pack, they’d better think again. They don’t want an all-out war.”
Chapter 23
When they arrived at the clubhouse and lodge, a delightful surprise was waiting for them. A two-tiered birthday cake decorated with lollipops, candy canes, a snowman, Santa, and a wolf sitting on top—perfect for a birthday so close to Christmas—was sitting on the kitchen island counter. A Happy Birthday, Holly!!! banner hung overhead. Four presents in colorful boxes sat next to the cake.
Holly just stared at the gifts and cake for a second, wondering how in the world they had known it was her birthday.
Lori quickly said, “Happy Birthday, Holly, courtesy of Aidan. We’re going to get out of your way so you can have your birthday celebration. We’ve got all kinds of arrangements to make for the welcome celebration in a few hours. Go ahead and get settled in. We’ll see you all soon.” Lori and Debbie gave Holly hugs, and so did Paul and Allan afterward.
After they left, Holly gave Aidan a hug and a kiss.
“Happy birthday, Holly.” He kissed her deeply in front of his bodyguards, and they cheered.
She couldn’t believe Aidan had arranged to have this done before they got here. Then she remembered the call he’d made in private. She’d been afraid he was worried the Cunninghams wouldn’t agree to take Nick in. Now she knew that wasn’t all Aidan had been calling about. She thought the world of him for arranging to celebrate her birthday early, rather than in conjunction with Christmas.
She smiled at the question-mark candle. Ted found a lighter in a kitchen drawer and lit the candle for her.
“Make your wish,” Mike said.
She wished with all her heart that she and Aidan would be the right wolves for each other, though everything he did for her made her love him more. She blew out the candle, then hugged and kissed Aidan again.
Everyone eagerly waited for her to open her presents, Aidan especially. No matter what he’d gotten for her, she would love the thought.
She removed the ribbon wrapped around the first box, opened the lid, and dug into the polka-dot green-and-red tissue paper. Folded neatly in the middle of the tissue paper was a shimmering blue swimsuit. She pulled it out to show everyone. She smiled at Aidan, and he smiled at the swimsuit. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”
“If the size, or color, or style doesn’t work for you, we can exchange it.”
“It’s just beautiful. I’m sure it’ll fit.” It reminded her of the sauna and not having a swimsuit, but being draped in mist had been perfect for that occasion.
“For the swimming pool, any season. And the chalet has a swimming pool and a hot tub.”
She smiled. “I can’t wait to wear it.” She figured no going naked around his family. When she was alone with him, all bets were off.
She set it aside and opened the next box. It was a bigger box, but whatever was in it was smaller. She kept digging in the box until she found a house key decorated with a gray wolf surrounded by pine tree branches.
“To my house,” Aidan said.
Ted and Mike chuckled.
She laughed. “How did you get one made in time?”
“I asked Jade. They have a copy of my house key. She sent it overnight to Lori.”
“Wow, Aidan, this is the nicest real birthday I’ve ever had.” She suspected he wouldn’t have gotten her a key that fancy unless he was thinking she’d stay with him permanently.
She eagerly opened the next box, and this one had her really smiling. “A thirty-two-thousand-piece puzzle of a sunset in paradise. Ohmigod, Aidan!”
“That one will take you a little longer, but I figure the guys and I can help you out.”
“It must mean you have a table we can use to put it together.”
“Yeah, in the den.”
“I can’t wait to get started on it.” She opened the last present and found a soft, white cashmere sweater. She hugged it to her body. “This is so soft and fluffy. I love it.”
“It’s warm enough for Colorado and dressy enough for Christmas. Most of all, I’ll love hugging you in it.”
“It’s beautiful.” She wrapped her arms around Aidan and kissed him. “Thank you for celebrating my birthday early, rather than on Christmas Day.”
“You’re so welcome. You should always have a special birthday for your special day.”
Ted and Mike headed into the kitchen, scrounging for food for lunch so they could share the birthday cake afterward.
“We expect a fashion show while we make some sandwiches,” Mike said.
“Yeah, the swimsuit first,” Ted agreed.
She laughed. “We need to pick out a bedroom first.” She grabbed her gifts.
The clubhouse was decorated with a rustic country Christmas look. A fireplace sported an ornate wrought-iron fire screen in front of warm flames wavering around the logs. A Christmas tree stood in one corner of the expansive clubhouse against one of the maple panel walls. White Christmas lights and rustic wooden, felt, and metal stars covered the nine-foot tree in the high-ceilinged room.
Large hand-braided rugs covered the wood floors, and Christmas quilts hung on two of the walls. Candles were burning, the smell of Christmas pine filling the air.
Holly smiled at the decorations. All the crafts looked like pack members had made them with love.
Even the deck was decorated in lights and red bows.
“We’re sharing a room, right?” she asked Aidan as he grabbed their bags.
“We’ll take rooms back that away,” Ted said, motioning to the north side of the lodge.
Aidan and Holly headed to a bedroom farther away from the ones his men selected.
“Unless you don’t want to,” Aidan said, but he didn’t sound serious.
“The guys worked so hard to try to match us up, I don’t want to disappoint them.”
Aidan smiled down at her. “Just what I was thinking.” He set the bags down on the wooden floor in the last bedroom. The room had a private deck that overlooked the lake, and paintings of the lake at different seasons decorated all the walls. What caught her attention most was that even the guest room was decorated with a country Christmas theme. Wooden Christmas trees hung on one of the walls, a Christmas patchwork quilt in greens and reds covered the bed, a red ruffled skirt and red and green decorative pillows finishing the ensemble. This room had a private bath, and Holly was glad for that.
“I’ve been thinking.” She walked over to the window and looked at the clouds filling the sky and the sun beginning to sink beyond the mountains, the oranges and yellows rippling across the lake in ribbons of color.
“Sounds ominous.” He moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, brushing kisses across the top of her head.
“I need the pack members’ blood samples. I won’t get them if I don’t return home.”
“Do you think Ronald will force you to stay and mate Jared if you return home?”
“He can’t do either.” She pulled Aidan’s arms tighter around her. “I could forward the results to you as we talked about before, and you could analyze them and see what you think. You could compare them to the old samples I have.”
“No,” Aidan said softly against her hair in a way that said he wasn’t telling her what to do.
She sighed and turned around in his arms to look up at him. “We need those samples. You know we do. If we’re the only ones who haven’t changed, we need to figure out why an
d if that can make a difference for the rest of our kind.”
“We do, yes. But you’re not returning—”
She opened her mouth to object.
“By yourself, I was going to say. I’m going with you.”
“What if Ronald doesn’t agree?”
Ignoring her question, Aidan added, “And I’m bringing my two bodyguards for protection. Just in case.”
“Okay, back it up. I said, what if Ronald doesn’t agree to you showing up with or without your fierce warriors?”
“I can’t force you to stay with me, but I don’t want you to go. Not by yourself. Ultimately, it’s up to you.”
“We need the blood samples. They may reveal no change whatsoever, and if they don’t, we’ll figure it out from there. I had some files at home, but I need to get the rest of the notes I have on the computer at my clinic. And if I’m going to stay with you, I need to get more of my things.”
“I completely understand. Would it be too soon to express my undying love for you? To convince you we should mate and continue to work together?”
She smiled at him but then frowned. “If we were to mate, you would expect me to stay with you and not return to the pack to get any of my files?” She had to know the truth. Would he back her in this or want to keep her from returning, worried about her safety.
He let out his breath in a frustrated way. “I won’t deny I was hopeful you would stay with me, but I understand why you would be reluctant.”
She pulled him in for a kiss, sliding her tongue into his mouth and against his tongue in a mating dance. “I’m not reluctant to stay with you. In fact, you’d have a damn hard time getting rid of me. I’ve got a key to your place now, you know.”
“And the key to my heart already.” He kissed her as if this was only the beginning, that she had already said yes to a mating, his hand moving under her sweater and blouse and massaging her breast.
“I’m definitely swimming in your pool in that swimsuit,” she said, moaning out the words as he continued to stroke her breast. “Maybe soaking in the hot tub with you too. Swimming in the ocean? The lake?” She pulled her mouth away from kissing his ear. “Okay, look, I’ll return home, get the blood samples, and share them with you, but I think it would be better if you stayed away, less antagonistic to Ronald.”
He rubbed her arms and she knew from the look of lust in his eyes that he wanted her as a man wanted a woman, but she also knew he was having a hard time letting her do this job on her own.
“Aidan, I’ve got to do this.”
“Call him and tell him I’m coming with you. See what he says.”
“If he agrees, it’s settled. You’ll accompany me. If he doesn’t?”
“Then you can do what you have to do, and I’ll be calling you every minute of the day to make sure you’re okay. And don’t be surprised if I bring Rafe’s Rangers to take care of Ronald and his minions if you have any trouble with him or his hired henchman.”
“I’ll be okay.” She pulled away from him and brought out her phone. “We agree on this, whichever way it goes, right?”
“Yeah. Not willingly, if it doesn’t go my way though. Any male who lets his prospective mate go into a dangerous situation without protecting her—”
She smiled at him. “I’m not heading into danger.” She called Ronald. “I’m returning to take blood samples of everyone. Aidan and his men are coming with me.”
“You’ll come alone, and I’ll agree to your working here and sharing your results with Dr. Denali.”
She put her phone on mute so she could talk to Aidan without Ronald hearing her. “He won’t go along with you coming.”
Aidan growled. “Bastard.”
“I agree he is. Can you accept this?” she asked Aidan.
“I want you to get it done as quickly as you can for as many of your pack members as you can. Share your findings with me as soon as possible, and I’ll begin looking them over to see if there are any changes.”
“He already said I could work with you long distance. As soon as I get the members’ permissions, I’ll share the earlier information with you.”
“We could rendezvous outside Seattle to see each other if this drags on too long.”
“You mean like at a cheap motel?”
He laughed, and she was glad to hear the sound of his laughter when he was being so growly about this.
“I hope to get this done in a couple of days.”
His expression lightened.
“What did you think? That this would take weeks, months to do? No way. I’m quick and efficient. As long as Ronald doesn’t put roadblocks in my way, I’ll be done in a couple of days. A week at the most, but I don’t plan to stay that long.”
“You’re returning to me? For good?”
“Any man who is so desperate to offer his undying love, rescues me from crevasses without hesitation, and celebrates my birthday on a separate day from Christmas? Yes, Aidan. I will return. To you. For good.”
“Then we have some unfinished business before I take you back to Seattle.”
“A mating?”
“Hell yeah. Between the time you return home and I get you back, I don’t want some other wolf to think you’re available.”
She laughed. She knew Aidan was the one for her from the way he was attempting to help all of wolf-kind and how he’d helped a lonely old wolf in the wilderness. She couldn’t imagine a better, kinder, sexier wolf to be her mate. “Uh, yeah, let me finish this call to Ronald, and I’ll talk to my parents next.” She unmuted her phone. “Ronald? Okay, I’ll be there.”
She smiled at Aidan, letting him know he’d said all the right things, which was why she was taking him with her, despite what Ronald wanted.
“Soon. Let everyone in the pack know I’ll need blood samples from them, and I’ll be sharing the results with Aidan, with their permission. He will be coming with me. I’ll call my receptionist to schedule appointments right away. I’ll be returning first thing in the morning.” She raised her brows at Aidan, hoping that was all right with him.
Smiling at her, he nodded, looking like one happy wolf.
“Hell, you’re mated? What about your family?” Ronald asked.
“I’ll call them right after I get off the phone with you and see what they want to do.” She hoped they’d stay in the area with her and Aidan and never return to the Seattle pack. Not only to prove that Ronald no longer had any say in their lives, but so they’d continue to be close like they were now.
And that had her missing them for Christmas already.
Chapter 24
Aidan couldn’t have been more thrilled that Holly wanted to be his mate, but he still had a bad feeling about her returning home. He’d wanted to give her time to get to know him better. He already knew he wanted her in his life permanently. Wolves did so instinctively.
But he hadn’t wanted her leaving him without him mating her first. He was glad she’d agreed and changed her mind about him going with her, telling Ronald she was bringing him. The smile she’d given Aidan was so wicked that he wanted to tackle her to the bed and have his way with her right then and there, forgetting that she was still on the phone with Ronald.
Aidan suspected Ronald would cause delaying tactics so she’d be stuck longer in Seattle. As pack leader, he could do whatever he wanted. But he couldn’t change that Aidan and Holly were going to be mated wolves.
“Mom, Dad, here’s what I’m going to do, and you can do whatever you like. I’m going home to get blood samples from our people tomorrow, but I’m not staying there for long. If I can’t do it in a week or less, that’s it. I’ll be putting my house up for sale. As for you all, you can remain at Aidan’s place or return home; it’s up to you. Just so you know, we’re tying the wolf knot.” She smiled at Aidan. “Yes, he’s thrilled I said yes… Yes, I’m taking him with me.
I’m so glad you’re so happy for me. Believe me, I am too. We have to go. Talk to you later when you’ve had a chance to discuss it.” She paused. “Um, let me ask.” She covered the mouthpiece. “Can you help them to start over in your area so they can be close to the kids…when we have them?”
Aidan smiled. “Hell yeah. Tell them we’ll put up the money and everything. We have plenty of room. They can build a home on the forty acres.”
“He said yes! You can build a home on the forty acres so you’ll be close by and can help with the kids…when we have some. Marianne and Greg too. We have to get down to business. Call later… Um, sure, I’ll let you talk to Aidan.” She handed the phone to him, but as soon as he had the phone to his ear, Holly began unfastening Aidan’s belt. Clearly, she’d meant it when she said they had to get down to business.
“Thanks for helping us out, Aidan,” Eddie said. “You won’t regret it.”
“I know I won’t, and I’m glad to help out. Choose any spot where you want to build your home, decide the kind of house you want, and we’ll get it done. Rafe and I always have money in a slush fund to use in case of”—Aidan paused when Holly slid his zipper down and began to tug his jeans down—“an emergency.”
“Thanks, Aidan. We’ll talk later. Kids are saying they want a pool. I don’t think anything else matters.”
Aidan laughed. “I don’t blame them. We’ll iron out all the details later. Welcome to our loosely knit pack where every man, woman, and child can think for themselves.”
“That sounds really good. Talk later.”
They ended the call, and Aidan began to pull Holly’s sweater off in a hurry because she’d already pulled his jeans down to the floor, and he hadn’t even removed his boots yet. Vixen.
She pushed him against the bed, and with his jeans around his ankles, he couldn’t stop the backward fall. He wanted to grab her in his arms and roll her underneath him, pinning her there and kissing her. But he needed to remove his boots and pants before he could go much further. She tackled his boots, removing one and then the other. Then she pulled off his socks. He kicked off his pants. Once she reached for his boxer briefs, he grabbed her and pulled her into his arms like he’d wanted to and rolled her underneath him. She smiled up at him, looking like a beautiful blushing bride. Which made him think if she wanted to, they could have a simple wedding. Though he suspected if Jade and Rafe got involved, which no doubt they would, there would be nothing simple about it.