by Vivian Arend
Erik beamed at her. “You want to go visit Missy and the girls? Tad’s taking Jamie.”
Maggie raised her brows. “Hmm, that means the place will be empty.” She winked. “I think I should stay here, just in case anyone needs something. I can…guard the house.”
“Oh.” He transferred the toddler to his other arm and held out his hand to her. She cuddled in close, rubbing against his chest. “You need a hand? With the guarding? It’s a big house, with lots of bedrooms.”
“Uh-huh. I could use a little backup.”
They grinned at each other.
Erik cleared his throat. “By the way. Pam left another bunch of phone messages for you. You’d better call her soon and let her know we didn’t bury your body in the bush.”
Maggie laughed. “You really okay with inviting her to visit? It’s going to make things awkward, since no one will be able to shift while she’s around.”
He shrugged. “People can deal. In the meantime…” He squeezed her tight for a second, adjusted little Jamie in his arms, and led them off in search of Tad. “We have someone to deliver to his daddy, and then you and I, little wolf, have a date.”
She tugged his hand until he bent over far enough for her to press a kiss on his cheek. “I love you. I’m so glad I was brave enough to come north again.”
“I love you too, and you’re brave enough to face a whole pack of wolves. Even one as big as me.”
Epilogue
Maggie finally understood that expression “snug as a bug in a rug”.
While she was most definitely a wolf and not an insect, she was so completely and enthusiastically comfortable at the moment, even the thought of moving seemed like too much work.
Her mate had wrapped an arm around her as usual, holding her tightly against the wall that was his naked body. One leg tucked between hers, his chin resting on her head. She was enveloped and wrapped up as tightly as any Christmas present.
After nearly two months, she was getting to know her mate’s habits. Usually Erik was the first to wake, rolling out of bed before her to put on the coffee and get some online work out of the way.
She’d stumble into the kitchen an hour or two later to be greeted by the scent of caffeine, her mate holding out an enormous cup of the elixir of the gods. Sometimes she even got to drink the full cup before the lazy, dirty looks he’d give her from a few feet away would be too much temptation to resist, and they’d end up naked all over again.
Today Maggie had too much to be excited about to sleep in. Even as delectable as her position was. It was an important day, and they had a lot to do…
The thought of how they usually spent their mornings, though, made her hesitate from throwing back the blankets and rushing forward.
Her mate.
How utterly wonderful it was to have him curled around her, so gentle in spite of his enormous size. It wasn’t just physically that he was big. His heart was three times the size of your average wolf’s as well, and all hers.
Hmmmmmm…
Okay, she loved his heart being hers, and his sweet sense of humour, but she liked it all—his bigness, everywhere. Her cheeks heated at the thought of all that bigness…
That wild part inside her rose to the surface in agreement. Mate—playtime?
Maggie discovered she was grinning from ear to ear. Don’t mind if I do.
Erik held her carefully, but he still had one hand cupping her breast. And as it was nearly morning, other parts of his anatomy were waking up.
Should she let the man sleep a few more minutes, or not?
Decisions. Decisions.
Maggie adjusted her hips slightly. Yup. Erik was at least partially awake.
She hummed in anticipation, rolling in his arms to press their fronts firmly together. The thick length of him cradled against her belly, and she slid a hand between them and gently teased with her palm.
His eyes remained closed, but his lips curled in a smile. “Don’t wake me. I’m having this really awesome dream.”
She brushed her lips over his, still stroking. “Is it a dirty dream?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Good. We must be having the same one,” she whispered, pushing on his shoulder.
He rolled to his back, taking her with him, and for the next while things got nice and hot and dirty, just the way they both liked it.
A seemingly long while later they lay side by side, fingers linked, chests still heaving from their exertions. Pleasure beyond the physical connected them.
“I love you,” Erik stated plainly, straight into her mind. “I know we’re mates already. I didn’t think we really needed more, but we do. It’s good for the pack to come together to celebrate, but I’m looking forward to it as well. It’s another memory for us. This wedding thing.”
Maggie rolled to her side, laughing as she pushed up far enough to hover over him. “I’m glad you came to this conclusion, considering we’re doing this ‘wedding thing’ today.”
He grinned lazily. “I just wanted you to know it’s not just to make you happy. I want this too.”
She laid a hand on his chest and leaned in to kiss him, dodging back when he would’ve pulled her in for another round of sexy entanglement.
“Not until tonight,” she scolded. “There’s still things to prepare, and Pam is arriving in an hour.”
Erik brushed a finger over her cheek. “You’ve missed her.”
“She’s my best friend,” Maggie said. “And one of the most kick-ass women ever.”
“Human. Who’s about to walk, unknowingly, into the midst of a wolf pack.”
She shrugged. “She’ll be fine. I have great taste in friends and mates.”
“Can’t argue with that,” he agreed. “Fingers crossed no one walks naked through the pack house and freaks her out.”
They grinned at each other. As special as the day was going to be, she’d already given her heart, soul, and everything to the beautiful man looking up at her with love in his eyes.
They settled in the kitchen, coffee finally filtering into her system when there was a knock and a familiar dark-haired figure stuck his head through the doorway.
“Heads up, love birdies. Ready for your big day?” TJ flashed his perfectly white grin set in a gorgeous face.
“Call me a birdie again, and you’ll learn to fly,” Erik offered smoothly, playing his fingers over Maggie’s where they lay linked on the table.
She snickered then gestured to an empty chair. “Want to come in?”
TJ stepped through the doorway, but shook his head. “I’ve been told in no uncertain terms not to bother you for long, but I thought you’d like to know—we got a call at the pack house. Pam’s flight is going to be about an hour late.”
Shoot. Maggie fought to keep her disappointment from showing. “Okay. That still puts her here in plenty of time.”
“Who’s picking her up?” Erik asked. “I thought you and Jared would be at the airport already.”
TJ looked sheepish. “We missed the departure time, so Mark Weaver went without us.”
“TJ.” Erik folded his arms, and it was his turn to look disappointed.
“Hey, this time it wasn’t…entirely…my fault.” TJ sealed his lips and refused to say anything else, which Maggie thought was pretty decent of him, considering disasters often were his fault.
“We’ll be over to the pack house in a few minutes,” Erik informed him, then offered a happier expression. “Thanks for agreeing to be our best man.”
TJ damn near glowed, straightening up and looking a lot more like his big brother, the Alpha, than he usually did. “I won’t mess up, I promise.”
“You’ll do great,” Maggie assured him. “And I’m looking forward to hearing you play for us at the reception. Our favourites, yes?”
He laughed softly. “John Denver and Bon Jovi. You guys are hysterical, you know that, right?”
“Hey, be glad I didn’t ask for the theme song from the Friendly Giant,” Erik dea
dpanned.
TJ’s grin widened. He tipped an imaginary hat and began whistling as he backed toward the door, preparing to leave.
Maggie laughed as she recognized the tune from the old time children’s show, then sucked in a gasp as TJ turned and bounced off the doorframe. He adjusted position and carried on with only a second’s hiccup in the music.
She and Erik glanced at each other and smiled, which turned into laughter, which turned to full out gasps before they were done.
“He’s a good guy,” Erik said, wiping tears from his eyes. “He is.”
“I agree.” But he was…TJ. There was a certain rightness in knowing that as much as things changed, things stayed the same.
TJ had a charm that was all his own.
She got up from the table and slipped into Erik’s lap, best men and bride’s maids temporarily forgotten. “It appears I have about an hour to burn…”
Erik’s eyes lit up.
Yup—it was going to be a great day. She pressed her lips to his and started on another round of memories.
No way were they going to survive this.
TJ glanced over his shoulder, ruefully wondering exactly what the punishment might be for mucking up the pack Betas’ wedding day.
Maybe Erik would be too distracted to notice. Maybe Maggie would decide they didn’t really need a wedding cake. Maybe Jared would keel over dead in the middle of the hall right before the bride and groom went to cut the cake and discovered the disaster.
That one TJ could picture vividly, heck, he could arrange it—Jared, keeling over, dead. That would be juuuuust fine right about now.
“I can’t believe you were so stupid.” TJ swore long and hard, hands shaking as he paced the massive cold room off the pack house kitchen. The same place he’d been delayed when he and Jared were supposed to be meeting with Mark to go grab Pam from the airport.
The shelves were lined with stacks of prepared trays—wolf appetites were legendary. Chicken wings, sliders, coconut shrimp, and piles and piles of steaks waited to be put on the barbeques and grilled.
The desserts arranged on the other side of the room were just as impressive. All except for the one set carefully at the far corner of the room. The one that even to TJ looked like it was important. Tall, thick, covered in white icing…with an enormous chunk missing front and center. A triangle with rough edges, and maybe a few finger-shaped imprints.
TJ blinked hard then checked again, hoping the original damage he’d seen wasn’t as bad as he thought. Actually, it wasn’t.
It was worse.
Jared leaned on the wall, casually eating a cold hamburger patty. “If I can point out—you told me to ‘grab a bite’. That there were a trillion things to eat in here, and it was like food heaven.”
TJ pinched the bridge of his nose and suddenly understood why his brother often looked as if he was one step away from developing an ulcer.
Wolves were a pain in the ass.
“There are a trillion things to eat. So why the hell did you put your paw into the one thing you shouldn’t touch?”
“It was dark.”
Another spike of pain shot through TJ. “Why was it dark?”
Jared indicated the switch in the middle of the wall to the left of the door. “It got bumped off.”
“Death is going to be too good for you,” TJ warned his friend.
“Cheryl’s back hit it,” Jared admitted. “We got a little vigorous, and the next thing I knew it was dark, and she was howling and—”
TJ held up a hand. “I don't need the details of your latest conquest, man. Just, did you have to have a snack while still in the dark? You couldn’t open the door or something?”
Jared finally had the grace to look embarrassed. “Turns out she likes it in the dark. Who am I to deny a woman her heart’s desire?”
“Or any other part of her?” TJ ignored his friend and went to examine the damages again. “Maybe if we…”
He twisted the cake sideways. Then the other direction.
Nope. The only thing making this look better was a blow torch or a shovel.
Shovel.
TJ eyed the scooped out section again, then glanced around at the goodies filling the room, sudden hope hitting hard. “Okay, this might not be the last day of our lives. Grab me a spoon or something, and bring me the stuff I ask for. And hurry, we don’t have much time.”
It was a miracle in the first place that no one interrupted them. It was a miracle that TJ didn’t accidentally have his hands slip at the wrong moment, but somehow he managed to stay coordinated enough to finish the task and carefully back away, pushing Jared to a safe distance as well.
Jared shook his head in amazement. “Incredible. I’d never have come up with that.”
“Desperate times, man.” TJ stared down at his handiwork.
He’d scooped out more of the cake, rounding the corners a little to create a deeper hole in the side. Outside the “cave” he’d placed a couple brownies and a pile of sugar cookie pieces, both stacked in a way they mostly resembled small wolfish figurines—one dark brown larger, the white one more petite. Between them he’d built a fire of chocolate covered pretzel sticks, with red and yellow cupcake icing dabbled on top for flames.
He shared the extra cupcake leftovers with Jared, and the two of them ate quietly as they eyed his creation.
“It’s not bad,” TJ said finally.
“Not bad at all.” Jared offered a fist bump. “Now, I’ll go find the chef and duct tape her to something before she sees the changes and has a bird.”
Tempting.
“You should bribe her,” TJ offered instead. “Someone would probably notice if she went missing.”
Jared considered. “She is pretty hot. I could handle that.”
TJ rolled his eyes. “Is everything about sex to you?”
His friend shook his head for a moment before the motion slowed then reversed direction to a nod.
They grinned at each other.
“Hey.” Jared shrugged. “I’m a healthy young wolf in the prime of life. Who am I to deny the world my amazingness.”
TJ pretended to stick his finger down his throat. “Well, you take care of the chef. I have Maggie’s friend to look after.”
Jared snorted. “Have fun with that. Babysitting the human. Poor man—you’ll be getting sex…never?”
Whatever. TJ shoved his friend out the door, one final glance to make sure the cake looked respectable as it could. “Not everything is about sex,” he muttered. “Friendship is important.”
“You keep telling yourself that. Maybe Mark will hit it off with her, and you won’t have to mind her all night.”
Whatever. He patted his friend on the shoulder, hard, then headed toward the back of the house where his stuff waited. It was time to grab a shower and get ready. This was a big day for his friends, and no matter what he was going to make sure they had a great time, including the human BFF.
And who knew? Maybe in the middle of being all responsible and shit, he’d have a good time as well.
There really was no knowing what surprises the day would bring.
I hope you enjoyed Erik and Maggie's story. The series continues with WOLF TRACKS, when TJ finally finds his footing with Pam.
If you'd like to meet some other sexy shifters, check out COPPER KING, where a billionaire bad boy bear has a wild adventure in Vegas with a very secretive young lady.
Please enjoy an excerpt from WOLF TRACKS, the next book in the Granite Lake Wolves series.
Chapter One
Pam let out a long, slow whistle and stared out the window to admire the scenery one more time. “Damn it, Maggie, I knew you were hiding something, but seriously. How many can I take home?”
A light tap on her arm dragged her attention away from the backyard and the succulent array of man flesh congregating there. “You’re supposed to be helping me, not drooling over the wedding guests.” Maggie turned her back and gestured over her shoulder. “Get the l
ast of my buttons, will you?”
“Where did you get this gorgeous gown so quickly up here in the boonies? I mean, it’s been two months since you went north. Not that I’ve been calculating or anything, but sixty-seven days is a short time to fall in love, get engaged and arrange to tie the knot.” Pam slipped the last of the minuscule pearl buttons through the hoops. Two months since she’d seen her friend, and falling in love didn’t seem to be the only thing that had changed. Pam checked the bedroom they were in with a growing suspicion Maggie was keeping secrets from her. Something wasn’t sitting right, and over the years Pam had learned to trust her instincts.
“It’s my sister’s dress. I just had to add a little bit of lace to the bottom to deal with the difference in our heights.” Maggie twirled, the lacey layers of the skirt flying around her. Her short blonde hair bounced more wildly than usual, a thin silver tiara nestled amidst the shimmer. “How do I look?”
Pam rolled her eyes. “Like a freaking pixie queen, as usual. God, why do you even ask? You’d be gorgeous in a paper bag.”
Maggie laughed.
It was now or never. “I need to know, Mags. Is this really something you want to do? Or are you getting married this fast because, oh, you feel you have to…”
Her best friend frowned. “Do you think I’m being forced into this? Seriously, I’m in love and I want to marry Erik.”
“You’re not pregnant and thinking this is the only way to deal with it, ’cause, if you are, I’d be totally fine with helping support you—”
“Pam!” Maggie trapped her in her arms, squeezed with the tightest bear hug possible. “Oh, sweetie, I’m honoured you’re willing to help me, but I’m not pregnant. I’m honestly and truly in love. I know it seems fast, but with some…people, you know it’s right.”
That was possible. Maybe. Pam had rarely seen it. She turned away to stop Maggie from reading her expression too closely. Just because she’d never seen a real-life “love you forever” didn’t mean it couldn’t happen, and someone’s wedding day was hardly the time to point that out.