by Vivian Arend
Tessa didn’t fight the urge. She shifted, right there in his arms, meaning he had a whole lot of cougar pressed up against him.
He jolted for a second. “Very funny.”
“Well, you said you liked my cat…”
He didn’t struggle as she licked him once, a full-face-wash type of grooming move that satisfied something deep inside her cat nature. Then while he was still laughing, she shifted back and proceeded to satisfy the human sides for both of them.
Mates. Who knew they could be so much fun?
Epilogue
The following June
Mark pulled into one of the Reserved for Owner parking stalls, chuckling as he noticed that once again there’d been an additional comment added to his sign.
His kitten with a sense of humour had continued to put her markers to good use since they’d finished the parking area. This time instead of something like “No Bears Allowed”, or “Woof, Woof, Woof” with a little star following indicating that meant Mark’s place, today Tessa had gone straight to the point.
All capital letters that boldly proclaimed:
GOOD BOY
They’d made a deliberate decision to not book the B&B full every day of the season. Tessa had suggested leaving gaps, and like all the suggestions his mate made, Mark was happy to go along with her. The calendar showed a solid line blocked off through a week in June and one in September, and while they’d lose revenue, Tessa had pointed out that a week to take a breath and spend quality time together was important.
The fact she was able to suggest taking a breather was a miracle all in itself.
But the extra cars in the parking lot and the volume of noise as he made his way up the stairs warned there wasn’t going to be alone quality time, at least not for a while. Something special had obviously come up after he’d kissed her goodbye four hours ago so he could go give Jared a hand on the nursery he and Keri expected to fill any day now.
But, as Mark had learned over the past months, anywhere was now a party when Tessa was involved.
Along with the voices came the scents, and as he continued his hurried rush forward, Mark began sorting out who he would find crashing his home in the middle of the day. Keri was there, along with most of the other ladies in pack leadership. In a delightful twist it had turned out that Tessa had a flair for learning sign language, and she and Robyn were now thick as thieves.
Although to be truthful, Tessa’s interpretations of what Robyn said sometimes left a little to be desired.
So, Tessa had been invaded by the ladies of the pack. He grinned. He loved that his pack loved her, too.
Sure enough, at the top of the stairs Mark was hit by a horde of short people. The half dozen women in the pack had brought their youngsters, and as he climbed over the gate guarding the top landing he was surrounded by munchkins all shouting his name enthusiastically.
Mark dropped to his knees and held out his arms as he cried out in mock alarm. “Oh no, I’m being attacked by wolves.”
Giggles ensued as at least seven little people jumped into his arms and onto his back. The Omegas’ little boy Jamie climbed like a cat onto his shoulders then grabbed Mark’s ears like reins.
Mark caught hold of the little tyke’s wrists to protect himself from being peeled like a banana. “Whoa there, cowboy. Those are attached to me.”
“Cookies are ready.” The announcement rang across the room, and the squirming horde abandoned Mark for sweeter pastures.
He glanced into the kitchen to discover the pack Omega, Missy grinning at him.
Mark brushed his knees off and made his way to her side. “Thanks for the save.”
She held out a pair of cookies. “Sorry about my enthusiastic son,” she offered in return.
“Anything special I’m interrupting?” Mark asked.
“Not really.” Her bright smile faded slightly. “Oops. Someone’s not happy.”
They both glanced around the room, Mark focusing in on his mate in seconds flat. She was easy to track down through their connection, and his gaze went instantly to where she was holding court in the corner of the room. A group of three old timers including Gramps were all staring intently at their cards as Tessa and Robyn faced each other down.
Neither of the women were smiling.
Uh-oh. From the death glare on Robyn’s face, something was wrong, or something was really wrong.
“I’ll get this,” he told Missy. “Keep the cavalry from interrupting.”
He sauntered slowly to keep from drawing attention to the situation while itching to close the distance as quickly as possible. Once he was able to, he laid a hand on Tessa’s shoulder and leaned down to nuzzle the side of her neck. “Are you behaving yourself, sweetheart?”
Robyn lifted her hands and signed rapidly—definitely a complaint, and most of which Mark didn’t understand.
Tessa interpreted. “She says I’m never going to give you up. Never going to let you down. Never gonna run around or desert you.”
Robyn’s hands faltered for a second before increasing in speed, as if speaking more intently.
“Never going to make you cry, never gonna say good bye—”
Mark covered Tessa’s mouth with his hand, fighting back his laughter. “You did not just rick-roll us.”
She blinked innocently. “What I meant is Robyn says I’m being the best little kitty-cat on the face of the planet.”
The pack Alpha folded her arms, tilted her head, and glared. Ice in her eyes.
“Or… she might have said she thinks I’m cheating. They look a lot alike, the signs for those two things.”
At this, the three gentlemen at the table lifted their eyes off their cards to Mark, and nodded seriously before once again dropping their gazes in submission.
Only Gramps had shared just the hint of a wink before the surging power of a pissed-off Alpha wolf forced his head down.
Mark counted his blessings. One, Robyn wasn’t mad at him. Two, the fact it was his mate about to be ripped a new one and his wolf was willing to go up against anyone, even their Alpha if need be, for her sake.
Those were the only reasons he was strong enough to keep his feet and make a suggestion. “There are hot cookies. Why don’t you gentlemen take a break and leave the cards for a while?”
Three empty chairs sprang into existence as Gramps and his two cronies vanished to safer territory near Missy and the warm cookies.
Mark held one of his cookies to Robyn. “This is for you.”
Robyn was still glaring, but her nose twitched. She let out a huge sigh before shaking her finger at Tessa and accepting Mark’s offering.
“Did you bring a cookie for me?” Tessa asked, all sweetness and light.
Mark settled in the chair beside her, keeping one hand on the back of her neck in case she decided to bolt before they were finished. “Tessa. Forget about the cookies. Why were you cheating?”
She gasped indignantly, propping her hands on her hips.
He gave her another look. “If Robyn thinks you’re cheating, then you probably are.” Mark offered his Alpha an apologetic glance before turning back to his mate. “Not because I trust her more than you, but because she’s…Robyn.”
Tessa snorted, but she nodded.
Mark continued. “But I also know this. I’m sure you’re cheating for a very very good reason.”
His mate let out a huge sigh then turned to Robyn. “He’s a meanie. He’s going to make me admit what I was doing.”
Robyn’s brow rose skyward as she signed “damn right.”
Tessa glanced over her shoulder before rising from her chair, slipping to the far side of the table, and lowering her voice. She signed along with her softly spoken explanation. “I was cheating, but it’s because of this…”
She dipped down out of sight for a moment before rising up and sliding a thick pile of cards across the table top. Aces, kings and queens—far more than usually found in a regular deck of cards stared up at them for a moment befo
re Tessa quickly gathered them together and hid them away.
“Tessa?” Mark couldn’t believe his eyes. “Where were those—extra face cards? Who put them there?”
Robyn’s lips twitched for a second before she burst out laughing, rose from the table and wrapped Tessa in a huge squishy hug. She stepped away just far enough to rub Tessa’s head briefly before signing too rapidly for Mark to follow.
Tessa smiled, pretending to turn a lock on her lips then throwing away the key.
Robyn patted Mark on the shoulder then returned to the main gathering in the kitchen.
Trouble averted, then. Not that Mark really knew what had just happened, and that was pretty par for the course. His life was one giant whirlwind, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. But still…
“Tessa? Want to explain?”
She curled herself under his arm and cuddled in against his body, speaking softly. “Gramps was having a bad day, and I was trying to make him smile. None of the guys can shuffle very well, so Robyn and I were taking turns for them, and I was kinda sneaking extra cards into the deck so he’d have better hands.”
“You were cheating to give Gramps the winning hands?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Card sharp. Oh, sweetie, that was nice of you, but not a good idea. What if it made the other players unhappy?” He frowned. “Wait. That also doesn’t explain the extra cards tucked away under the table.”
Tessa shrugged. “Your gramps has nice friends. Every time they helped gather up the cards, they pulled the extras out and hid them so Robyn wouldn’t notice.”
His mate was nothing if not thorough when she got in trouble. “So the only person not cheating at the table was…Robyn?”
Tessa grinned. “It’s okay. She just told me that I’m forgiven as long as I don’t do it again—and as long as I’m her partner the next time we play Canasta.”
Mark laughed, pressing a kiss to her lips as she curled her arms around him. Then he stood there with his happiness in his arms and looked contentedly around his home. It was filled to the brim with family, friends, pack, and Tessa—his lover, his heart and his soul.
He had it all, with so much more to look forward to.
His mate purred softly in his arms, head resting on his chest. “I love having a pack,” she whispered. “But most of all, I love having you as my everything.”
It was too perfect to resist. Mark purred back.
I hope you enjoyed Mark and Tessa’s story. This is the last of the Granite Lake books, but if you’d like to enjoy more adventures with lighthearted shifters, there’s a another series of stories that will return you to the north, and it begins with a certain billionaire bear Jared mentioned at the end of Wolf Line.
An adventure in Vegas—and what happens in Vegas most certainly does NOT stay in Vegas as billionaire Jim Halcyon meets a shy, copper-haired beauty with a lot of secrets. Check out book 1 of the Takhini Shifters: Copper King.
Turn the page for more information and an excerpt from Copper King.
Copper King
Three things make billionaire Jim Halcyon’s to-do list: women, work…and more women. It’s a perfect agenda for a rich shifter who has no problem letting his inner grizzly out to play. From the bright lights of Vegas, to the sophisticated action of New York—he’s got the money and the power to do anything he wants.
Anything, except resist the lure of Lady Luck, an ancient copper coin he gambles yearly to possess. Jim is determined to regain control of the pretty penny, and damn if he’ll let any bit of eye candy distract him from his goal. Not even the mesmerizing woman in the middle of the casino floor with the shimmering hair and enormous green eyes.
With a life-changing move ahead of her, Lillie’s finagled a temporary layover en route to her future. She’s got five days to soak in new experiences, and while Vegas is too big and shiny and loud for her shy bear self, she’s eager to do this up right. It’s the last chance she’s got to let her hair down.
Until his challenge begins, Jim is more than willing to oblige Lillie’s wish for a final fling. Only Lady Luck has some twists of fate planned for them both…
Chapter One
Jim Halcyon was in lust.
Or maybe obsessed was a better term. Whatever it was, he couldn’t pull his gaze away. Her bright coppery tones reflected the overhead lights, sparkling back as she rotated before him. Soft edges, infinite value—not because she was so rare, but because of what she represented.
This time, she wasn’t getting away from him.
“You’re the easiest person in the world to distract,” Damon Black taunted.
Jim instinctively closed his fingers over the coin lying in the palm of his hand, tempted to slam the fist he’d formed into the pretty-boy face of one of the only shifters brave enough to mock him.
His best friend peeled his grasp open and withdrew the small copper disk, placing it and its protective plastic case on the bar counter in front of them. “Now that you’ve seen for yourself Lady Luck is here, let’s talk. How have you been? I haven’t seen you much in the past month, and phone calls and texts don’t cut it, since you suck at doing anything other than yattering about work.”
“I’ve been busy,” Jim snapped.
Damon raised a brow, his unspoken see what I mean? coming through loud and clear.
Jim let out a long, slow breath. Fine, he’d humour the blond bastard. “You know, for someone who swears he wants me to relax, you might let a fellow have some quality time with the woman he loves, instead of rushing the moment.” Jim deliberately lifted the coin in the air, twisting slowly so the casino lighting bounced off the cut lines, making the ancient artifact shine like a brand-new penny.
“Fine by me.” A gloating grin drifted over Damon’s fair features. “Since this is the only time you’ll get a chance to fondle her, you may as well make the most of it.”
“Ass.”
Damon chuckled. “Three years running I’ve won the bet. You must miss having Lady Luck in your life.”
Jim forced down a growl of discontent, but facts were facts. It wasn’t because he hadn’t done his damnedest to win, and no way Damon could claim otherwise.
The trouble was every man had a fatal flaw, and Jim Halcyon’s was women. Blonde, brunette, short or tall, there was so much to love about women. Plus, there were so many women to love, and Jim happily obliged as many as possible.
His dedication to the task had inevitably led to his downfall during their previous contests. Not because he’d been fucking around, but because every damn time he’d ended up acting as a white knight to some damsel in distress. He had no proof, but he was almost certain the ladies had been setups put in place by his rival.
Damon might be a great friend, but the joker never gave an inch.
Not about anything—and lately his neurotic energy seemed focused on make Jim relax. It was like being friends with an overenthusiastic border collie.
Other years their challenges had taken them around the world to all sorts of exotic locations. They’d wined, and dined, and partied like animals as well as completing their task. This time, though, the lucky piece was the only part of the competition Jim was interested in, as he’d informed his friend months ago. Set up something fast and to the point—make it over quickly so Jim could get back to work a.s.a.p.
Damon had refused to give up any advance details, damn near dragging him to Vegas and holding Lady Luck as bait until Jim finally agreed to show up without specifics.
“This year’s going to be different,” Jim insisted. “I refuse to get caught up in any sob stories that might steal victory from me. Let’s get rolling. What’s the challenge?”
Damon gave him a long, hard stare, his bright blue eyes far too astute. “Dude, stop and breathe for a minute. You can’t keep going like a madman or you’re going break something. Or someone.”
“Exactly. So hurry up and let’s start relaxing.”
Damon rolled his eyes.
“I’m winning
her back,” Jim warned.
His friend shook his head slowly, as if realizing something. He spoke in a far softer voice. “It is just a game, right? A chance for us to let off some steam. You don’t really believe your luck for the coming year depends on winning the coin?”
“Of course not,” Jim denied, shoving down memories that threatened to rise. “I don’t believe in luck.”
“Ha!” His friend’s response, instant and loud, brought the attention of others their way. Mostly smiles, especially from the women as Damon turned the single outburst into a rolling laugh, the kind that was contagious. “Do you want me to get you a shovel to handle that load of shit?”
Oh, the joys of friends who have known you for years. “It’s not really that I think I have shitty luck without her.”
“Okay.” Which also meant bullshit.
Jim briefly wondered what Damon would look like as a rug.
Vengeful thoughts temporarily on hold, Jim rolled the coin between his fingers like a street performer. A low hum of conversation and music surrounded them with the constant din unique to Vegas. Slot machines sang, bells and thrills echoed, accompanied by the occasional burst of laughter or raised voices. Piped-in oxygen wafted on the air. All of it as familiar as his own backyard.
Hell, this was his backyard—one of them, anyway. The luxury suite on the thirty-sixth floor had his name on the lease, same as the penthouse apartment he owned in New York, and the spectacular new home going up on his family inheritance in the north.
The memory jerked him to a stop—
There were things he didn’t want to dwell on, and that was one of them.
So he forced a grin back on his face and went to work distracting Damon. “I just happen to have even more spectacular luck than usual when she’s in my possession. I was the one who found her all those years ago.”