by Milly Taiden
“Think we’ll need his help today?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I’m your mate. They did nothing to dispute what Nick did twelve years ago, so they’re the ones that set the precedent. I don’t see why this whole meet and greet is even necessary.”
Wyatt leaned forward in his seat behind the whispering couple. “It’s protocol. Nothing more than officially recognizing Jaylon as your mate and vice versa, Becca. It’s why Matheus felt compelled to come. That and to make sure no one tries to ram this ridiculous Levirate down our throats.”
“Where the hell is Matheus? If this is protocol, then he should be here,” Jay grumbled.
Wyatt slipped a hand onto Jay’s shoulder. “He’ll be here, son. He’s getting a file from his room.”
Jaylon turned, concerned. “What file?”
His father grinned. “The one that all the clans signed abolishing the Levirate ruling. It took some digging, but I knew Matheus had it somewhere.”
Grinning, Jay shook his head. “Remind me never to bother the old man about being a pack rat again. In fact, when we get back I want him to found a library or historical society for all South Shore shifters and make community service there mandatory for shifter teens. Half-blooded and full-blooded alike. That should whip things into shape as well as give them a basis in our history.”
Wyatt squeezed his son’s shoulder. “I was right to name you my successor, Jaylon. You’re a good man.”
Listening to Wyatt’s words, Becca slid her fingers into Jaylon’s hand and squeezed. No words were necessary.
Lucilla raised her hand, quieting the room. “If we’re all assembled, I think we should begin.”
The double doors to the council room opened and Matheus walked in, file in hand. “My apologies to the council for being late.” His gaze fell on the members at table and he stopped, slack-jawed.
Lucilla rose from her seat, her face as though she saw a ghost. “Matheus?” Her voice was barely a whisper.
The older man walked the aisle between the gallery seats, shoving the file into Jaylon’s chest as he passed.
“Lucy? Is that you?” he asked, incredulous.
The two stared at each other, the room buzzing with curiosity.
She nodded. “It’s been a long time, Matty.”
His lips parted, but then he closed them, nodding. “Fifty years to be exact.” The old counselor’s eyes were soft and a gentle, quiet smile pushed at his lips. “You’ve hardly changed, Lucy. Still as pretty as ever.”
Becca’s mouth dropped open? No way! Matheus and Lucilla?
Jasper cleared his throat. “Hello, boy.”
The old man turned toward the even older man in the wheelchair, his eyes widening even more. “Jasper Crowe. How well I remember you.”
The older man nodded. “I expect you would.” He looked out into the crowd, his milky gaze falling on Becca and Jaylon. “It seems my past sins have come full circle and are now sitting in the front row awaiting judgment just as you and Lucilla did so many years ago.”
Lucilla’s eyes flicked between the old man and Matheus. “That was decades and decades ago, Jasper. What’s done is done. We have more pressing matters to discuss.”
The man in the wheelchair shook his head. “No, my dear. This is the same circle I set in motion all those years ago. It is this circle that needs our attention now. I was wrong then, Lucilla, and I will not allow you or the council to follow my mistake. I should have allowed you the life you wanted. The happiness you deserved. You and YOUR wolf. The same as Becca deserves happiness with hers.”
Two tears fell onto Lucilla’s cheeks and she sunk into her chair.
“Thank you, Jasper,” Matheus croaked, his own eyes misted.
Lucilla looked at Matheus, her lips parted but she didn’t say a word.
Jasper reached a hand out, gesturing to the two. “What is there to say when a lifetime has passed? I bear the responsibility for that alone, but your twilight is just hitting the horizon. You’re still young.” A wheezy chuckle left his throat. “Well, as compared to me, at least. Maybe there is still something left to be said.”
“What an unexpected walk down memory lane, Jasper. Thank you.” Alastair Reece stood from his seat, clapping.
Lucilla shot him a nasty look. “Sit down, boy. You have been rendered toothless, you little snot. Becca is well mated. Anyone with a nose can sense that. You had a claim, but that is no longer the case. We decided to keep this council meeting out of sheer custom, no more.”
“Custom?! I’ve been robbed!” His hand flung toward Jaylon across the aisle. “This dog has no rights.”
Lucilla shook her head. “Jaylon Ross marked Becca Duran according to the laws and custom of every shifter clan in North America. The act was clearly consensual, so you, my friend, are the one with no rights. Not anymore.”
“We’ll see about that!”
“There’s nothing to see, Reece. Your claim was tenuous at best, especially since your brother claimed Becca without her say-so.”
“You only have her word to go on. She spread herself for my brother. Nick had her and he marked her.” Alastair slid his eyes to Jaylon, a dirty smirk on his face. “He had her in every way, sinking his cock first and then his teeth. I should know. I watched.”
Becca sucked in a breath and Jay tightened his grip on her hand.
“Becca was his and should’ve been mine by right of first refusal. I did NOT refuse. This mutt has no right to her.” Alastair’s whiny voice raised an octave.
Matheus shook himself from his prior shock and stalked toward Jaylon, his hand reaching for the file.
“I beg to differ.” He took the file and opened it, walking toward the council table where he laid the documents out for them to see.
“These are the articles of abolishment signed by every clan across the continent. The document is over one hundred years old, and though a few hold outs managed to slip through the cracks in our time, they were long enough ago that every clan has since come into line with this ruling’s end.”
Lucilla lifted her glasses to her nose and picked up the main sheet from the pile of legal papers. She scanned the wording, a soft smirk on her lips.
“You, Alastair Reece—” She eyed the young man over the top rim of her glasses. “Have no basis for a claim. This,” she gestured with the paper in her hand, “removes any doubt this council may have had. You and yours were nothing then, and you are nothing now. Take your sorry carcass and your sorry claim and leave our lands.”
The woman slid her eyes to Matheus, her gaze bittersweet and a little sad. “Lucky for us you’re still a bit of a hoarder.”
The old man nodded with a quiet chuckle. “Occupational hazard when you devote your life to the past.” His words held double meaning and they were clear to everyone within earshot. “I still have everything you ever gave me, Lucy. All your letters. Everything.” He lifted his left hand to show her its ringless state. “It was always you. Just you.”
The old woman’s breath hitched and her hand went to her heart. Her left hand. “There was never a ring on mine, either. It was you, Matty. Always.”
Jasper gripped either arm on his wheelchair and forced himself to stand. Breathing heavy, one hand clutched the side of the council table as the other reached for the gavel. He lifted the wooden hammer, bringing it down with a force that spoke of inner strength, despite his weakness.
“Alastair Reece, it is by ruling of this council that I banish you from the Pineland and all our territories. You are guilty of grievous crimes against the Pineland Leap and will be held until word can be sent to the Wind River Pride for council representation.” Jasper slid his eyes to Matheus. “I trust with the alliance between our clans, you will lend your vast knowledge of the law to this?”
Matheus nodded. “Of course.”
Jaylon stood, keeping Becca’s hand in his. “Knowledge, yes, but as Alpha of the Deep Water Pack and mate to your Prowl Leader, if muscle is required, muscle will be provided.”
Jasper banged the gavel again, and Alastair’s eyes found Jaylon’s as he was cuffed.
“Watch your back, wolf. You haven’t seen the last of me.”
26
“Can you believe Lucilla and Matheus?” Becca shook her head, still in disbelief. “They’re out walking in the moonlight like two teenagers. I’m speechless.”
“Still waters run deep, young lady, especially when it comes to love,” Wyatt replied with a chuckle. “The man threw himself into his work, and believe me, there were plenty of females sniffing around. He was never really interested. Not seriously, anyway. Now we know why.”
Jaylon stood by the window, drink in hand, staring into the dark.
“Things went well this afternoon, considering. Don’t you think?” Wyatt topped off his scotch and nodded, almost as if agreeing with himself. “And tomorrow we take your lovely mate to meet the rest of our pack and plan the main event.”
Jaylon nodded but didn’t say a word, and Becca got up from the table and walked over to where he stood.
“You’re so quiet. What’s the matter? Buyer’s remorse?” When Jay blinked at her confused, she laughed. “Remember? You asked me that same question in the cab ride over to the Boathouse.”
Sliding his arm around her shoulders, he pulled her into a side hug. “Never. You are the most important thing in the world to me. It’s why I’m concerned about him.” He gestured through the window toward the makeshift guard house across the commons.
“Alastair is under lock and key. I know my Leap doesn’t have much in terms of manpower, but we do know how to hang and field dress a deer. Alastair is no more than captured prey. There isn’t a family in this camp that didn’t lose someone they loved to Alastair’s raid. No one is going to take pity on him. No one’s afraid of him. Not with you and your pack backing us.”
Jay shook his head. “He’s desperate, Bec, and desperate people do desperate things. Not to mention he’s slightly deranged with his delusions regarding you and this Leap.” He drained his glass and put it on the end table.
“The faster we get you back to Deep Water, the better. I’ve already sent for men to come and help set up a perimeter to keep the rest of your Leap safe.”
Becca met his eyes and the worry in them. “Do you think that’s necessary?”
He nodded. “Yes. Jasper filled me in on the raid. Alastair used mercs. I don’t know what he used to pay them, but something tells me it was the promise of land and women.”
Becca sat on the arm of the couch, stunned. “Mercs. You mean rogue shifters?”
He nodded again. “My guess is he still has a few in his employ. I’d bet they are somewhere in the Pinelands waiting for word. I’ll have my men fan out and try and round them up. If humiliation and jail time doesn’t bring them round, then maybe a look down a hot metal barrel will.”
“This is my fault. I will never forgive myself for my own stupidity.” She pushed herself from the couch with an angry shove.
“You were played, Bec. Nick Reece took advantage of your naivety for his own ends and Alastair is trying to work that same thread. He needs to be taken out,” Jaylon reassured her. “You’ve got to cut the head from a snake in order to stop it from striking.”
“I don’t know—”
“It’s nice your Leap is willing to come so far east for the ceremony,” Wyatt said, deftly deflecting the conversation.
Becca nodded before moving to her chair at the table again, aware that he changed the subject. “It makes more sense to do the ceremony out by you. Our territory may be substantial, but we don’t have the lodgings to accommodate the number that would attend from Deep Water, not to mention we’re probably a little rustic for their taste.”
Jay snorted, holding his thumb and forefinger an inch apart. “Just a tad.”
“How many from the Leap do you think will attend?” Wyatt asked, taking his glasses and a small pad and pen from his jacket pocket. “With your friend Lyssa’s determination, we should be able to whip up a grand party in a matter of a few weeks.”
Becca shrugged. “I’m not sure, probably twenty people or so. We’re a really small clan, Wyatt. What you saw in the council gallery this afternoon was basically everyone attached to me. I have no immediate family. Lucilla is as close to a mother as I’ve known and then there’s Lyssa and her family.”
“Then why not invite everyone, then? Make it a beachside vacation for the entire Leap? Deep Water has deep pockets. We can certainly afford to accommodate your entire clan if it’s that small.”
Jaylon and Becca exchanged glances. “I don’t know, Dad. I don’t want to leave Becca’s property completely unattended. Not with tensions as high as they’re going to be with Alastair’s Pride. I know they’re from deep in the Rockies somewhere, and lord knows how long it will take for them to reply, but Becca needs to be secure in knowing her clan will come home to things status quo. No surprise attacks like before.”
Wyatt got up from his chair and crossed to the window. “Then double the contingent from Deep Water and leave the place surrounded. It’s important for everyone in Becca’s clan to feel included. From what Jasper said, an interspecies mating is not something that happens often in this neck of the woods.”
Jay glanced out the window and caught a glimpse of two shadows under the commons gazebo. Lucilla and Matheus. “Odds are it just might become more common than you think.”
Becca grinned, moving to his side. “Things are getting a little cozy under the stars tonight.” Tucking herself under Jay’s arm, she pulled him closer. “Second chance love.” She sighed. “I’m happy for them.”
He kissed the top of her head. “Me, too.”
Wyatt coughed and the two turned. “Are we going to plan this wedding shindig or not?”
Becca glanced at the old lovers again. “Maybe we should make it a twofer.”
Jay laughed, pulling her into a tight hug. “Not a chance. Let the geriatric crew elope to Vegas. This ceremony is all about us.”
“What is taking Terez so long?” Lyssa paced in front of the French doors.
“I don’t know why you’re so worried, Lys. To be honest, I don’t care if Jaylon and I have our wedding with me in my faded jeans. The dress is not that important.” Becca plopped a wedding bon-bon into her mouth and chewed.
Lyssa stood with her hands on her hips. “Not that important?” Not caring Becca was dressed in nothing but a spa wrap, she pulled her from the sofa and marched her out onto the deck overlooking the pool and gardens. “Look!”
She shrugged. “So?”
“Becca! Look at those people. They’re your guests, most of them wolf shifters. The people you will be associating with on a daily basis! Each dressed for success. The last thing any of us want is for you to walk down the aisle looking like a country bumpkin.”
Becca grinned. “Well, Jay calls me Country Mouse, so—” she shrugged again.
Arrgh! “Becca!”
Becca turned, swinging her towel clad butt in defiance. “Hell, Lys. Half of them already think we’re a bunch of inbred hicks. Maybe I’ll show up in this and let the terrycloth fall where it may.” Becca clicked the inside of her cheek.
“You will do no such thing!”
A muffled knock sounded and Lyssa met her friend’s answering chuckle with a dirty look as she walked to open the hotel room door.
“Finally!” She pulled Terez inside, just missing the gown’s flounce in the door jamb.
“I’m sorry, Miss Becca,” Terez said, lifting the white organza. “The last bit of the custom alterations took longer than I expected.”
Lyssa raised an eyebrow. “Custom alterations?”
Becca ignored her. “May I see, Terez?”
The tiny seamstress nodded with a smile and glided the dress across the king-size bed.
“Oh my! It’s better than I expected! You are a genius!” Becca clapped, smiling from ear-to-ear.
The seamstress beamed, running a protective hand over the silver emb
roidery on the strapless sweetheart neckline.
“Think everyone will understand the meaning?” Becca’s question was more for herself than anyone else.
“Does it matter, miss? It’s your day.”
Becca touched the woman’s hand and then ran a finger over the intricate stitches. “So much for your faded jeans and not caring a hoot,” Lys snorted. “This is amazing.”
“I didn’t want to get my hopes up in case the design was an epic fail.” Becca smiled. “Jaylon doesn’t know I spent extra money embroidering his family’s crest.”
She stepped back as Terez took the dress from its hanger and fluffed out the front, letting the bodice fall open for Becca to step into.
“He’ll be both surprised and thrilled,” Lyssa said, helping her friend step into the full white skirt.
“Why the hell did I pick a ball gown?” she grumbled, wiggling the bodice over her hips. “I’m going to look like a Christmas ornament.”
“Stop that. The final effect will be worth the aggravation.” Lyssa turned her around, clasping Becca’s fingers to one of the posts on the bed. “Hang on, Cinderella.”
It took both Terez and Lyssa to lace the corset back and then fasten the tiny satin buttons along the drop waist. Finally, Becca stepped back and looked at herself in the mirror.
“Smallish waist and big, beautiful boobs. Not bad.” She laughed turning to see the back of the dress as best as she could. “You do know how to bustle this monstrosity, right?” she asked Lys over her shoulder.
Her friend laughed. “Yes, boss. Now stop already.”
27
Becca stuck her tongue out and then blew a tendril from her forehead. “I’m going to die of heat exhaustion if we don’t get out into the fresh air soon. What time is it?”
Looking at the clock, Lyssa jumped from the edge of the bed. “Holy crap. I gotta put on my dress and finish my face.” She whirled on her heel. “Terez, can you do Becca’s veil?”