Chapter Fourteen
Finn slowly came back to his senses, the cloud of pure bliss lifted enough for him to remember who he was and where they were. The sun shone high in the sky. Birds cheeped and chirped in the trees around them, probably telling the other birds all about the debauchery they had just been witness too. Finn shifted. A wave of amused realization that he was still on top of Luke. It didn't seem to bother him. The hard planes of his chest rose and fell with his even breathing. Was he sleeping? Wouldn't that be just like his man?
"I'm not sleeping, mate," Luke rumbled, his eyes still closed. "I'm recovering."
Recovering? Finn cocked his head to the side. He sat up and only then did Luke slide out of him. Finn let out a little giggle. He felt great. Amazing actually. His limbs were loose and limber. He felt sated, complete. There was no annoying buzzing at the base of his skull, no colony of ants skittering across his skin. He could've been disturbed at the idea, if he'd really let himself think too hard on it, but why bother when his entire body felt like it was glowing from the inside out? Warm, satisfied.
"Let's never leave," he said and felt Luke's laugh reverberate through his chest.
"Never leave the state park turnoff on milepost 23? You aren't hard to please."
Finn sat up and stretched his arms. "I'm really not," he said, but there was more to his words, more that he had to say to Luke.
Luke pouted. "I'm sorry, Finn. I was terrified, still kind of am, about what this could mean. I didn't know you were hurting so much."
Finn smiled. "And say that you will never keep your sweet love stick away from me again."
Luke's face contorted into a look that conveyed equal parts distaste and amusement. "I will never say 'sweet love stick,'" he replied.
Finn laughed out loud. "For the best."
"But I won't," Luke said, lifting himself up so that he leaned on his elbows. "Keep it from you, I mean." He lunged forward and kissed Finn quickly, chastely, on the lips.
"We should get back," Finn said finally. He was still worried that they'd basically left his friends and family stranded.
Luke groaned and stretched. He held Finn against his body in a tight hug before lifting him up and himself into a standing position. "I guess we should. We left some drama. Want to tell me about the shifter who tried to kidnap you?"
"It was really weird. He tried to pretend like he'd been in my same class in grad school. I only caught him because he was trying to pretend he was Christian. But, I mean, makes sense, I didn't really talk to Christian a lot until after I…until after. If someone was doing the bare minimum on trying to con me, I mean, I don't know." He shrugged. It all seemed like a lot to go through just to take him.
"That little old lady was in on it," Luke said with narrowed eyes.
Finn couldn't catch the laugh that burst from him. "Words I never thought I'd hear you speak."
Luke scowled further. "It would be funny if it weren't your safety we were discussing. If I see that lady again I will—"
"Help her across the street," Finn said.
Luke grumped. "Good thing the pack found you."
He'd said it offhandedly but it was the first time Luke had referred to their little motley crew as a pack, out loud anyway.
"That's something I needed to talk to you about," Finn said. "Before you showed up, Sorell and Pippen they were, I almost didn't recognize them. Pippen actually asked me if I wanted him to kill that guy."
Luke didn't seem surprised at all. He found Finn's pants, helping him in them before sliding his own up his hips. They sat at his hips in a way that reminded Finn what they were shielding. His mouth watered. "In the back," Luke said, guiding Finn to the back seats. "I ruined the front seatbelt," Luke said in answer to Finn's questioning look.
Finn flushed. It had been over the top hot at the moment. Now he was stuck in the back like Luke was some sexy chauffeur.
Luke got in and looked at him in the rearview mirror. Finn could only see his eyes but knew he was smiling, probably making his own Driving Miss Daisy jokes. "Those three," he began, his tone sounding all the more parental because of how they sat in the car, "have had a hard life. Conner seems to have been able to avoid a lot of trouble and you can tell in his mannerisms, but Sorell and Pippen, those two have clearly not had an easy go at life.
"They remind me a little of me actually, when I was excommunicated from the pack. Shifters are born from shifter parents. Both of them don't have to be, but one of them does and that almost always means they live in the confines, some look at is as safety, of a pack. Sorell's case is different, but he still found a pack. The urge is strong in us to congregate, to form bonds with each other. They've lost that, and from the sounds of it, that isn't a bad thing. But now that they believe they've found a new pack, I don't doubt that they would go to most any length to keep its members safe."
"Have they? Found a pack?"
Luke shifted away from the mirror so that Finn could not see him. Had he been embarrassed that moment before he turned? They were on the highway now, maybe he was just concentrating on the road. "If you agree to it," he said quietly. "I can't—I won't do it without you by my side. And we'd need to find a new house eventually. It isn't fair to Frannie. We could do it right, a pack the way it was always meant to be, no drugs or crime, no restrictions on what members can and can't be. Just, an accepting group of like-minded individuals who look out for each other."
"Led by you."
"Led by us. How many times do I have to show you, my future includes you for as long as you will allow it."
Finn thought he might have to show him right now, on the side of the highway. Then, he realized they really needed to get back to the others. Now that he thought about all that had gone on, they'd left them in a bit of tumultuous situation and Frannie was completely in the dark. He thought about what Luke was asking him. "I don't know, Luke. How am I qualified? A little more than a month ago I was being released from an institution. I've had about a million near breakdowns since then? You are a born leader, a born alpha. But me? I still struggle deciding what shirt to put on."
Luke shrugged. Finn saw the tops of his shoulders from behind the seat. "Then go naked. In fact, that might be my first official alpha decree. All Finns of mine shall at all times be naked and ready for me."
Finn scoffed. "All Finns? You have more than one of us?"
"Nope, just you," he said, grinning.
"I never pegged you for one of those kinky doms, parading me around like a sex slave."
The car jerked, like Luke's foot had fallen on the break accidentally.
"How do you know about kinky doms?" he asked.
Now Finn grinned, then he rolled his eyes. "Dude, I'm twenty five. I've seen basically all the porn."
The car resumed a safe, normal speed, but Luke wasn't grinning anymore. "And no parades," he grumbled. "You are for me to see. Only me."
A minute later, Luke pulled down the street to Frannie's house. "Does that mean it's official? Do we need a plaque or something?"
"Nope, we just need to go tell the pack," Luke said grimly as he pulled up.
Finn recognized the reason for his tone immediately. Their pack was on the lawn about to tear each other's throats out.
Chapter Fifteen
Luke hurried out of the car to reach Finn's side. He didn't think there was much danger to his mate in this situation, but there was tension and his animal demanded he be near his mate in case he needed protecting.
As it was, his father looked to be in the most danger, the way Conner kept eying him, watching and observing the way he shifted his weight. It looked like a predator memorizing the motions of his prey.
The darker part of Luke begged him to stand back, see how far it would go. His father hadn't cared much about how Luke would protect himself from the world twenty years ago. He sighed. It would offend his mate and probably Frannie. She'd grown a little attached to the old man just because he knew how to spin a story.
"I though
t I told you to handle this," he said to Sorell who was in the doorway, Frannie behind him. She danced from foot to foot making worried noises.
"I deserve a medal for getting us all this far without transportation. Besides, they got to talk this out, boss. Some valid concerns here."
Luke was afraid of that.
"Maybe we should go to the kitchen," Frannie suggested in a squeaky voice.
Luke ordered them all to the back yard, that way if things got out of hand, hopefully less of Frannie's things would be broken. Finn sat with Frannie at the patio table, Luke stood beside them. In the yard, Daryl faced off against Conner and Pippen with Sorell neutrally standing between them.
"The more I think of it, the less it makes sense," Conner said, a little bit of an accent coming through, maybe British or Australian? "That guy knew too much to be just some lackey. He had knowledge about Finn. But not the whole story. Almost like someone was sending out intel as quick as they got it without really investigating. And who else has been here from the beginning? I just got here, Pippen arrived a few days ago. We had no idea you existed before that and until this afternoon I didn't even know Finn had attended grad school for a time. I trust Sorell and think you do too. And who stumbled in right at the exact moment so that guy could run?"
"Hold on here, I'm being framed for some bullshit. I'm in as much danger as anyone else here, more than the lot of you because I don't have the excuse of just not knowing the territory, I have no ignorance to claim, the opposite. You just got here," he said to Conner. "And then this guy pops up? Seems convenient to me."
"It can seem anything you want it to. I can show you the proof of why I sought out an honest, law abiding pack." Conner lifted his shirt. Luke caught a glimpse of a horrendous set of scars across his front that seemed to go further up. "You however have just now seemed to see the error of your ways."
"That doesn't change the fact that by living here I've signed my death warrant with my old pack."
"Unless that's all something you've already worked out with your pack master," Pippen said softly from behind Conner.
"My pack master is standing right there," Daryl shouted, pointing at Luke. "My son. Think what you want about me, but do you really think I would betray my son?"
"Again?" Sorell said.
The word silenced them, sat in the yard like an elephant.
Luke felt his inside prickle. Finn slid a hand inside his own and clenched his fingers tightly, reassuringly. He squeezed back a thank you before releasing his hand and turning on his father. "Have you been spying on us?" Luke listened for any sign that his father might be about to lie. He doubted he was the only one doing it.
Daryl's heartbeat remained steady, his breathing never changed, his pupils stayed constant. "No."
"Do you know how the pack master might have had so much information about Finn?"
This time his gaze dropped. Luke tensed. "I gave him this address."
"What?" Frannie shrieked, masking Luke's growl. "Why would you?"
"I didn't know you then, kid. This was way before any of this."
"After that first meeting? In the diner?"
"I followed you long enough to figure out where you were going, then I told Lucian."
Luke's body tensed. That was how he'd beat Luke home from the pub that night. His hand clenched into fists. Ultimately, he knew that Daryl hadn't told the pack master anything he couldn't have figured out by simply tracking his scent. The wolf in him knew that didn't matter though. Daryl had done something that had put his mate in danger. That was unforgivable. He stepped away from Finn and Frannie, not wanting a chance that they could get hurt. He nodded to Sorell before shifting, allowing his body to become fluid, to reform and readjust into his wolf shape. He took two quick steps before leaping towards Daryl. His eyes widened in fear and he shifted. In his wolf form he was smaller than Luke and entirely brown, almost more like a shaggy dog than a wolf.
From the corner of his eyes he saw that Frannie had gotten to her feet. Sorell was at her side, not quite restraining her, but also not allowing her to move any closer. Finn stood as well, but he made no move to stop Luke. His gaze was dark yet trusting. He wasn't used to seeing Luke in this form but trusted him enough to let him do what he thought was needed. Luke didn't need to look for Conner or Pippen. He could sense that they had shifted as well and that they were standing behind him in an act of solidarity.
As he neared, Daryl crouched his head low, and looked up at him. He wasn't displaying any acts of dominance, but he wasn't submitting either. Right now, Luke needed total submission.
He growled low in his throat and bared his teeth. Daryl did not immediately react, and Luke punished him by lunging forward biting him just hard enough around the neck so that he would definitely feel it, but not to break skin. Daryl yelped and dropped, displaying the act of obedience that Luke's wolf needed, that the pack needed if they were going to remain harmonious.
Luke snarled, keeping Daryl in place for a few moments longer before stepping over him and trotting back to where Finn stood. On all fours he reached to Finn's chest. He didn't want to scare him but this was important to him. He hadn't realized how important until he stood as a wolf in front of his mate.
He hadn't grown up in the same world, knew next to nothing about being a shifter. Luke needed to educated him, for his safety but also for his approval.
He looked up at him and tried not be so menacing. He wasn't very good at it. Finn stretched out a trembling hand, palm down, fingers spread. He let his hand hover in the space between them, either unwilling or unable to go the remaining inches that would bring his palm in contact with Luke's muzzle. Luke stretched his neck, erasing the space for him. He wasn't prepared for how amazing his mate's hand would feel in his fur. It wasn't sexual, but more like the world felt even, balanced and harmonious. It was the most natural feeling in the world to have his mate slide his fingers through his fur, down his neck and down his spine.
Then he patted him twice on the bottom.
"Good boy," Finn said with a devilish wink.
Pippen and Conner both barked. The closest sound to a laugh that a wolf had. Luke let their laughter slide and jumped up on his hind legs, easily landing his front legs on Finn's shoulders. He gave Finn his best wolfy grin and then licked him once, from chin to forehead. Finn's squeal was reward enough.
"Yuck, you have dog breath!" he howled. He stepped out from under him and then made the mistake of running.
Chapter Sixteen
Finn rolled over, casting an arm around Luke's broad chest. Luke held him in a warm embrace as Finn snuggled in. "What time is it?" he mumbled into Luke's armpit.
"Ten thirty," Luke replied. "I've already been up, had breakfast, went with the guys for a run and helped Frannie install that new sound system."
Finn yawned, tired from just hearing everything Luke had achieved so far. "And then you came back?"
"Of course, my mate was still naked and sleeping, how do I pass that chance up?"
"I was naked and sleeping when you got up the first time."
"True, but when I returned there was a better chance of you waking and me being able to do this." Luke held Finn's chin up and kissed him slowly, thoroughly.
Finn felt the kiss from his lips down to his toes. It energized him enough to sit up and consider getting out of bed. But getting out of bed meant, not kissing Luke and that idea made him very tired. He grabbed Luke's bicep, halting him. "Or, we could stay in, maybe order breakfast, watch a movie?"
Luke smiled and Finn knew he had him. At that moment there was a rude and urgent knock at his door. "Finners!" Frannie shouted. "Get some pants on and gird those loins. Mom is coming."
Finn yanked from Luke's embrace and stood abruptly. He yanked on a pair of boxers and stomped to the door, ripping it open. "What did you say?"
Frannie stood on the other side, her curly hair a wild mess on her head, a smudge on her cheek mostly likely from ink. She narrowed her sharp eyes at him. "Are you f
eeling alright?"
"Of course not!" Finn choked. "Mom is coming?"
Frannie pushed his door open and barged all the way into his room. "Yes, she is, but…"
"What?"
"You've been sleeping in really often lately?" she said the statement like a question.
"Are you mad I didn't do the dishes? I will, okay? Doesn't holding the role of alpha mate grant me any sort of reprieve?"
"It grants you every reprieve," Luke said from the bed just as Frannie said, "No."
"I'd wash more often if your counters weren't at such weird heights." Finn said, pulling on clothes. "My back hurts all the time these days trying to scrub all the pots and pans. Does Pippen need to use so many dishes?"
"He is practicing," Frannie said offhandedly. She went to his curtains and spread them open letting in a wave of blinding light.
"What did I do to you?" he asked. "That sun is killing my head."
"A headache?" Frannie asked quietly.
"Yeah," he said with an antagonistic sibling tone. "Do you actually have any pain killers on you or are you just going to gawk?"
Frannie stepped backwards. "I'm just going to…go look for some." She turned and nearly ran out of the room.
Finn turned to Luke, his hands flung out at his side in a can-you-believe-that motion. "What is wrong with her?" he asked Luke. "Do you think she is starting to resent us? Me?" He knew he was shrieking but Frannie had really messed with his head. She was probably just mad that he hadn't been helping out more around the house. It wasn't like he had the excuse of Daryl or even Luke who had both secured legal employment at the garage in the community.
Wolf's Mate Mpreg Romance Box Set Page 12