“How the hell do these rich bitches fly like this all the time?” Kang asked. He must have been hit by the same wave of nausea as Mag, because the hand that wasn’t gripping hard on the handle above the plane’s door was on top of his stomach. “It ain’t right for wolves to get around like this.”
“Sorry, guys,” Vince said after he opened the door to let them out of the plane. “Been flying people in for the party all week. Ice has gotten real choppy. Going to have to run a Zamboni over it soon.”
Vince let out a big booming laugh, and Mag couldn’t tell if he was serious or not. Not that he cared. He was too busy trying to hold the contents of his stomach down as he deplaned. The King of Wyoming losing his breakfast all over the kingdom dock would definitely not be a good look.
But then the sound of drumming cut through the loud, blustery Alaska wind. In the gray morning light, there was Janelle, dancing and singing her way toward him down the dock, while Tu followed behind her, striking an animal skin drum with a mallet. Mag straightened, the nausea disappearing as suddenly as it had arrived.
His breath emptied out of his body in a white cloud of disbelief. Even after the amazing two weeks he and Janelle had just shared together, one filled with apologies for the past and promises for the future, he still couldn’t believe Janelle was actually his wife now. That she loved him as much as he’d loved her from the first moment their eyes had met.
“Come here, baby,” he said when she finished her dance.
“But wait, we still have to do the Eskimo kiss—”
Too late, his lips were already on hers, and soon she was giving in with a happy sigh of contentment. He wondered if his poor wife would ever get a proper kunik from the husband who couldn’t keep his hands off of her.
And, to his surprise, that wasn’t even the best part of the day. Later that night, after the whole kingdom town had gathered within the large but cozy bottom floor of the kingdom house to celebrate Christmas, Tu announced that she needed all the guests to gather to either side of the staircase, because “Mag and Janelle are about to have a wedding do-over!”
Apparently Kang had already known about this, because he pulled his stunned little brother into position in front of the hearth, where the same pastor who married them the first time was now standing, this time with a sprig of mistletoe on his lapel.
“Good to see you again, Mag,” the gray-haired wolf said with a nod and a smile.
“You, too,” Mag said, though he couldn’t remember the pastor’s name for the life of him.
The sound of “The Way You Make Me Feel” filled up the living room. A Michael Jackson song, of course. And his former princess bride looked like she was fighting hard not to break out into a dance as she descended the kingdom house’s cedar steps in a dress he knew for sure her mother hadn’t picked out.
Mainly because it was really tasteful, flowing down to the floor with a bodice that didn’t show off too much cleavage and a furry white hood attached. She looked like a snow queen coming down the stairs, her head swinging back and forth to the beat. Like his queen.
And this time instead of dread, the thought filled him with nothing but joy.
“I HOPE YOUR THUG KING appreciates all this hoopla,” Janelle’s dad said later during the dancing portion of the evening. He glanced to where Mag was dancing with Queen Wilma on the other side of the dance floor. “It’s not like we didn’t already throw you two a wedding in the Alaska tradition.”
“With all due respect, Daddy, that wasn’t a wedding, that was a steamroll with you and Mama in the driver’s seat. What we just shared tonight…” Janelle smiled thinking of the vows she had given to Mag, ones of love, spoken in the Bad Wolf dialect, thanks to her brother-in-law’s helpful tutelage. “That was a wedding I know we’ll both treasure for years to come.”
Tikaani grunted. “Supposedly my middle daughter’s run off to God knows where for the next five years, so why do I feel like Alisha’s still here?”
It was meant to be an insult, but Janelle took it as a compliment. “I wish she was here, but unfortunately she isn’t. Which reminds me, Mag and I will be summering in Alaska starting the year after next.”
Tikaani’s face lit up, “You want to make sure our first grand pup knows about his strong heritage. Good idea.”
“Yes, that and I’ll be attending summer classes at the University of Juneau. I can do most of my human credits online and at our local university. But Wyoming doesn’t have a Wolf Law program at their wolf university and the University of Juneau does.”
Tikaani’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you saying you’re planning to get a grad degree? In law? Women don’t go into law!”
“No, they don’t, which is a shame, because Alisha’s going to need a good representative when she gets back. I plan to make sure she has one.”
Tikaani’s lips thinned. “And that thug king of yours agreed to this?”
“He’s actually the one who suggested it. Thanks to Kang, only a suicidal idiot would challenge you or Mag at this point. And Kang’s turned out to be an even better beta than expected—he’s not only intimidating, he also has a good head for money and investments behind all the face tattoos—one he’s been using now that he’s overseeing a place that has low crime and lots of capital, pretty much the opposite of Freedom Town. So Mag is fine with leaving him in charge while he’s out on paternity leave, then every summer after that until I get my law degree.”
“We’ll see about that. Alisha was the only Alaska princess to work outside the home and I’ll be darned if I let another one of my daughters go the way she did.”
Janelle shook her head at him. “It’s not about you and Mama letting me do things anymore, Daddy. Those days are over. I make my own decisions now, and I love my thug king even more for supporting me in them—and by the way, both you and Mama will cease calling him my ‘thug king.’ From now on, you may refer to him as what he is—the ally who saved the Alaska crown. In fact, if you ever disrespect him in front of me again, I’ll be sure to let it be known if anyone challenges the Alaska king, his second is more than willing to abdicate his title on his behalf, no challenge fight necessary.”
She smiled when her father’s mouth fell open. “Yes, that’s right, Daddy. I found that loophole myself in our pledge agreement. And Mag was glad I did, because he’s sure it will make you a lot more cooperative in future business dealings with him. No wonder he’s been so supportive about me going into law.”
“You wouldn’t…”
Her eyes flashed. “I still don’t know what part you played in what happened to Alisha, but don’t test me, Daddy. At this point, I would. I totally would, I’m that angry at you and Mama.”
“But we didn’t… how could we have known she’d… it’s not our fault!” her father blustered.
The song ended, and Janelle put back on her pleasant princess face. “Time to switch out partners again. Please be a dear and let Mama know what I said about her behavior toward Mag going forward.”
Just in time, Mag came by with her mother, and the switch off went smooth as silk, mostly because her father stood there, helpless and stymied, a saved king who had finally been brought to task by the daughter who’d been slavishly obedient just a few months ago. But Janelle supposed her mother was right. Everything does change when you get your two rings.
Janelle let Mag slow dance her away in the opposite direction of her parents with visions of what the future held in store. She could already see herself helping she-wolves understand their pledge agreements and also helping them obtain divorces if they’re marriages weren’t working out. All while dressed in fashionable suits and designer heels. If only Alisha, could see her now.
A bittersweet sadness stole over Janelle at the thought of her sister who she wouldn’t be seeing again for five years. Alisha was all right. In her heart, Janelle sensed Alisha was all right. But she wished she could confirm it for herself. And though she wouldn’t have changed what she did to help her sister escape Rafe�
��s clutches, she did regret Mag had lost a good friend and ally because of it.
According to her parents, Rafe had holed himself up in the Colorado mansion and was now refusing to serve in his role as king. And Grady seemed to be fully on Rafe’s side. He turned down her emailed invitation to the surprise second wedding, with a rather nastily worded note that he was too busy watching the kingdom house, making sure Rafe didn’t hurt himself on his now daily drinking binges. Rafe’s response to Alisha’s leaving seemed a little more extreme than the picture her sister had painted of a petulant king who hadn’t gotten his way. After all, he hadn’t gone crazy after Chloe had left, he’d come to Alaska to pledge Alisha.
Janelle was beginning to suspect maybe Rafe’s feelings for Alisha had been truer than he let on during their pledge negotiations, that they’d gone beyond blind and ruthless ambition. But it was too late for him and Alisha now. She was somewhere Rafe would never be able to get to her, and by the time she came back, not only would she get her annulment, she’d have the best lawyer advocating on her behalf for custody of their pup: her own sister.
Still, the absence of both Alisha and Rafe from the second wedding cast a definite cloud over the party.
“So it looked like you and your dad had an interesting conversation,” Mag said, bringing her back to the real world.
Janelle shrugged. “Dad’s not too happy about me going to into law. He thinks it’s unseemly.”
“Then he don’t know from seemly,” Mag said. “I personally can’t wait to strip you out of one of them lawyer suits. Talk about seemly, yeah?”
Janelle giggled. “I’m not sure you’re fully understanding what ‘seemly’ means.”
He chuckled, too, and she felt the deep rumble of his chest against hers and they danced in total peace while a young Michael Jackson sang “Give Love on Christmas Day” along with his brothers.
At least they were totally at peace until Janelle sighed and said, “Poor Dad. First he finds out I’m going to law school tonight, and tomorrow morning I’m going to have to tell him his first grand pup will be a girl.”
She bit her lip and waited for Mag’s reaction. She didn’t have to wait long. “It’s a girl?” he said, taking her by both arms. “We’re having a girl?”
Janelle nodded, preparing herself for the worse. “And I’m seven years older than my mom was when she went into heat. This might be our only child. That means you might not have an heir for your crown when you turn fifty—”
“I don’t care.” He cut her off with a kiss. “Janelle, I don’t care! If it were up to me, we’d only have girls. I don’t want a boy who turns out fucked up like my dad. I’d rather have girls who look and think exactly like you.”
Janelle was touched, but… “That’s sweet of you to say, but this might have serious repercussions, because you won’t have the same options my dad did. I’m not going to let anyone manipulate our daughter into an arranged marriage.”
Mag cupped her face in his hands and shook his head. “Have I mentioned lately how much I like this other side of you, baby? Look at you, already standing up for our daughter and she ain’t even born yet. You’re going to be a great lawyer, and an even better mother.”
Janelle heart melted. “So you really don’t mind?”
Mag shook his head. “Of course I don’t. The only reason I have this crown is because it was the only way to get you. If it goes away when I’m fifty, I don’t care. All I need is you.” He rubbed a hand over her swollen belly. “You and our little girl. This is the best Christmas gift ever. Thank you.”
Janelle kissed him then, not caring who saw what her mother would later call their “vulgar display on the dance floor.” Wolf and Punishment had officially become Wolf in Love in her mind. And it was okay if Mag kissed her back like she was his possession, something that belonged to him and only to him. Because she had chosen him. In fact, they had chosen each other, and she knew without a doubt, for the rest of their time on this earth, they’d belong to each other.
If you liked this story, check out the other books in the 50 Loving State series:
THE OWNER OF HIS HEART
HER RUSSIAN BILLIONAIRE
HER VIKING WOLF
HER PERFECT GIFT
HIS ONE AND ONLY
Theodora Taylor reads, writes, and reviews in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. When not reading, writing, or reviewing, she enjoys going to the movies, daydreaming, and attending dinner parties thrown by others with her wonderful husband. Feel free to contact her at [email protected], and if you love IR romance as much as she does, check out her review blog at irbookreviews.com
Wolf and Punishment (The Alaska Princesses Trilogy, Book 1) Page 22