The Beta's Heart (Wilde Creek Book 8)
Page 18
“He’s so handsome,” Kismet said.
“Want to hold him?” Brynn asked.
“Oh, I’d love to.” Kismet accepted the tiny bundle from Brynn and settled him into her arms. She inhaled the sweet scent of the baby and couldn’t wait to hold her own children. “What a sweetie.”
“Yep, kept me up all night and waited until dawn to appear,” Brynn said with a smile.
Kismet looked up at Ren and he smiled at her. “Love seeing you like this.”
“Me, too.”
Kismet handed the baby back to his mother.
Ren said, “Thanks for inviting us to stop in and meet him.”
Acksel smiled. “As the pack trainer, I wanted you to know that I fully expect my son to get plenty of special attention from his father’s right-hand male.”
Ren nodded. “You bet.”
“Are you two heading out for your honeymoon?” Brynn asked, stifling a yawn behind her hand.
“Yeah,” Kismet said. “We’ll be gone for the week.”
“Well, enjoy the time together,” Acksel said. “You deserve a break.”
“Be well,” Ren said, saying goodbye to the others in the room and leaving after finding Rich and saying goodbye to him. An hour later, they were on their way to a rented cabin nestled against a secluded lake in the mountains. She couldn’t wait to get there and start their honeymoon.
“What are you thinking about, my sweet fairy wife?” Ren asked, kissing her hand.
“In a little over six months, that will be us, but it’ll be two babies and not one.”
“I can’t wait to meet them, even though because of the vision I feel like we already did.”
“Yeah, I feel the same way.”
“We should make the most of these months alone, I guess. Before we have a lot of sleepless nights.”
“There you go again, having amazing ideas.”
He chuckled, his wolf rumbling along happily. “It’s easy when my wife is so lovely. I don’t only have amazing ideas, I’ve got sexy ones, too.”
“Do tell, Ren. I’m all ears.”
Chapter 20
One Year Later
Four-and-a-half month-old twins, Rune and Lily, lay on a blanket in the backyard, under the shade of the enormous tree their mother had grown for them. They were shielded from the June sun and content to play with the toys that had been brought out for them. Ren’s parents had been showering the twins with gifts, sending packages every month with cute clothes and fun toys. Kismet’s parents were the same way, but they could visit in person more often.
Ren watched his son as he fisted the stuffed wolf Acksel and Brynn had given him, bringing it up to his mouth to chew on. Kismet entertained Lily, twirling a yellow rose over her and talking quietly about the lovely bloom.
“Hey, room for some more on the blanket?” Acksel said as he stepped out of the house, holding Aiden. Brynn followed behind with a picnic basket.
“We brought munchies,” she said.
“And some more people,” Eveny said as she and Luke followed with Rowan. Behind them came Nila, Malachi, Jack, and their daughter, Camilla.
“Yay!” Kismet said. “There’s plenty of room.”
Brynn sat next to Kismet, the two friends embracing. “I love this yard so much. This tree makes it special.”
As everyone settled on the large blanket, the females all cooing over each other’s babies and the males watching with amused expressions, Ren thought Brynn was right. The tree did make the yard special, but he thought it was more from the fact they’d had a vision of their twins playing on it. Knowing that when they were a little older, he’d build swings for them. He’d make sure that his son would always watch over his sister and his future siblings. Someday, maybe he’d be alpha of his own pack, or perhaps, the way Ren and Acksel had been friends and stayed close throughout their rank fights, Rune would become Aiden’s right hand as well.
“I think Aiden’s all alpha,” Acksel said.
“I was just thinking about our kids’ futures myself,” Ren said.
“There’s a lot to consider,” Malachi said. “Just in this group, none of our kids are pure wolf. The pack of the future, that they’ll be leading, will be an entirely different one than what we have today.”
Acksel nodded. “If I’ve learned anything from mating Brynn, packs that don’t change with the times are doomed to die.”
“That’s the only thing you learned from being with me?” Brynn asked.
Acksel snarled fondly. “You know what I meant.”
“Uh, yeah, that you’re on diaper duty for the next week.”
“Ah, crap,” Acksel said.
“Literally,” Luke said.
Ren tried not to laugh at the expression on his alpha’s face, but he couldn’t help it, and no one else could either.
“That’s it,” Acksel said, “you’re all fired. I’m going to start a whole new hierarchy in the pack. Ya’ll can be omegas and clean houses all day long.”
Ren laughed. “That’ll be the day.”
“Um, yeah,” Kismet said. “He can’t put dishes in the dishwasher, let alone clean a whole house.”
“Hey,” Ren said, “I do okay.”
She snorted. “If by okay you mean you get dishes near the dishwasher…”
“At least they make it into the kitchen,” Nila said.
“Hey!” Malachi said.
Eveny opened her mouth and Luke promptly put his hand over it, which made all the females erupt into laughter.
Ren leaned over and kissed Kismet. “I promise to be better about the dishwasher.”
“You know what?” she asked as she lifted Lily into her arms and turned her to face him. “I don’t even mind. It’s fun to tease you, though. You’re my mate and my husband, and the vows said better or worse.”
“If the worst thing that happens to us is dirty dishes, I’d say we’re doing just fine.”
“Agreed.”
Rune began to fuss because he couldn’t see Lily, so Ren picked him up and faced him to his twin. The two reached for each other, babbling and cooing and making him melt every time.
“I’d like to propose a toast on the first anniversary of Ren and Kismet’s wedding,” Acksel said.
Everyone grabbed drinks from the cooler Ren and Kismet had set up. He twisted the lid off a green tea for Kismet and took a lemon tea for himself.
“To the first of many, many years together, we wish you a lifetime of love and laughter,” Acksel said.
Everyone touched their drinks together, giving their well wishes to Ren and Kismet. He leaned over and kissed her, tasting the sweetened green tea she’d just sipped.
“It’s been a wonderful year,” he said.
“I can’t wait to see what the future brings.”
He looked down at their twins. “Me, too, sweetheart. Me, too.”
Coming Next from R. E. Butler
Dancer’s Fated Mate (Arctic Shifters Book Six)
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Dancer’s Fated Mate (Arctic Shifters Book Six)
An invitation to spend Christmas with her cousin and her family is too good for Gabriella Fitzpatrick to pass up. When she awakens in the early morning hours and can’t go back to sleep, she walks into the front room and faces a polar bear, who miraculously changes into her cousin’s husband.
Declan, the second position on the sleigh team, has been waiting forever to find his fated mate. Five of his friends have already found theirs, and he knows it’s just a matter of time before he finds the one female on the planet for him. Just before dawn on Christmas Eve morning, he answers a call in the security office. One of the shifters who live in the human world shifted in front of a human and doesn’t know what to do. Mrs. Claus tells Declan to use magic to wipe the human’s memories.
When Ellie wakes up, she vividly remembers watching a bear become a human. Declan promises that she wasn’t hallucinating, and that he can also change into animals, including one of Santa’s reindeer. He calls her his fated mate and takes her to North Pole City to show her the truth of his world. Will she be willing to stay in NPC with Declan, or will she want to stay in her world forever?
* * *