by Anna Lowe
“Your fan club, sweetheart,” he retorted, a note of bemusement creeping into his voice.
The truth was, the kids seemed a little in awe of them both. As did half the pack. The other half was wary, undecided. What would it take to convince them Ty was all right?
“I’ll make it up to you later,” she whispered, kissing his ear and earning a tiny purr.
“You most definitely will.”
CHAPTER THREE
Lana put on a look of false cheer as they joined the kids and her sister Nala outside.
“Isn’t it great, Auntie Nala? We get to walk with Auntie Lana and Uncle Ty!”
Lana exchanged amused glances with her younger sister. The great part, they both knew, was giving their brother Neal and his mate a break from their excitable cubs.
For all the racket the kids made as they skipped down the forest trail, Lana could still hear Ty grumbling. He flipped up the collar of his flannel shirt and scowled at the crunching of his boots over the morning frost.
And people live here because…?
She shot him a look. Because if everyone lived in Arizona, it’d be too full.
He grunted then hoisted her niece to his shoulders. Maybe we should head home a day or two sooner. He put the thought straight into Lana’s mind instead of saying it aloud. She had to give him brownie points for that—the big, bad alpha had learned a little tact.
We just got here, Ty.
What if there’s a problem at home?
She shrugged. Cody’s in charge.
Ty gave an exaggerated inner groan. That’s what I mean.
Come on. He’s got Zack and Kyle to help him. Plus Tina and your dad.
Dad can’t wait for him to fuck up, Ty muttered.
Neither can you.
He stopped in mid-step to stare at her.
It’s true, she insisted. Give your brother a chance. Imagine how much more time we’d get if he were helping run things.
The thin line of his lips—yep, the soft cushions that had been kissing her were already hidden away—grew thinner. Then he turned and ducked under a low-hanging branch, continuing down the forest trail. She’d have to work extra hard to coax them back out later.
Lana hid a grin. That part could be fun.
They were in the thick of the woods now, where pockets of snow still clung to the hollows and the cold seemed thicker, damper. They followed a meandering trail that was full of memories, like the time she and Len built a treehouse in that cluster of oaks. She could still see one of the two-by-fours stuck in the branches. Or the time she buried treasure—chocolate gold coins from the dime store—by the big boulder under the pines, only to find it eaten by insects later. Those memories, she could feel sentimental about. Others weren’t so funny, like the spot among the mossy tree stumps where she used to go to hang her head and tell herself that being alone was perfectly fine. Even back then, she’d dreamed of red rock canyons and mile-wide views, as if she was destined for Arizona the way she was destined for Ty.
“So, you happy to be home?” Nala asked.
I can’t wait to go back, she wanted to say, but kept her response to a vague hum.
“Your mate’s so good with the kids,” Nala said, throwing Ty an appreciative look.
Lana blinked. Ty—her Ty—good with kids? She nearly cackled out loud. Ty the volcano? Ty the sexy grouch? Ty, her desert wolf?
But looking at him… Well, hell, maybe Nala was right. The kids were shrieking with delight, one swinging from each of his arms as he strode along with exaggerated gestures.
And damned if a little zing didn’t go through her there and then.
The image stuck in her mind: a couple of cubs, using Ty as a jungle gym, completely at ease with his raw power. Trusting in the knowledge that he’d never, ever harm his wards.
The zing became a pulse as she pictured those cubs as her own.
“So…” Nala ventured, letting Ty and the kids bound out of earshot. “You’ve been together two years…”
Lana knew what her sister was implying. And still no kids?
Pure-blooded shifters had a notoriously hard time conceiving, but destined mates usually didn’t, so the question was legitimate. She tossed out her standard answer without thinking. “I don’t want to be seen as just the alpha’s mate or the mother of his kids. I want my own place in the pack. That takes time.”
Even as she said it, a retort sounded from deep inside. Her inner wolf was sharing her two cents again.
We’ve earned our place in the pack. Time for the next step.
Ty was all for it, Lana knew. He’d been pushing for kids from the day they’d exchanged mating bites. She was the one hitting the brakes.
Nala gave an audible sigh. “I don’t know how you can resist. Look at him.”
Ahead of her, Ty swung one of the kids in a big loop, holding tight to her niece’s tiny hand as she squealed, “Wheee!”
“Now me! Me!” cried her nephew, tugging at Ty’s shirttail.
Ty’s words, spoken from once upon a time, echoed in her mind. Three cubs…if it’s okay with you. He’d said that the first morning they woke up together knowing they’d never part. At the time, the idea of even one child had seemed a million miles away. But now… Heat spread through her chest and tugged at the corners of her heart. Three cubs would be great. Cubs that were half her, half Ty. Watching her nephew take his turn cavorting with Ty, she substituted dark-haired kids and a desert background…and promptly stumbled over her own feet.
She tried shaking the unsteady feeling away. It wasn’t as though she hadn’t pictured that before. But back on Twin Moon Ranch, she’d fallen into a pleasant routine, balancing work with the precious time she and Ty had alone. She’d been telling herself she’d wait a little longer. A little longer…
How long was long enough?
Ty turned and socked her with a look so unguardedly happy, so sparkling, it took her breath away.
Nala chuckled. “You can continue family tradition and combine the letters of your names for the kids.” She tried out a few. “Ty-la. Ta-na. Ty-ler.”
Lana hadn’t given it much thought. Tyla? Hmm. Tana? That one had a nice ring. She found herself striding faster, reluctant to let her mate’s perfect ass disappear around the next corner without her.
“One thing at a ti—”
She was cut off by a child’s scream and a bone-jarring bellow, followed by a thunderous roar.
CHAPTER FOUR
“Jesus,” Lana muttered, sprinting around the curve.
Her niece was racing back, screaming, and then launched herself into Lana’s arms. With her free hand, Lana snatched for her nephew and whipped around, sheltering both children from the mayhem ahead. Ty—wolf Ty—had ripped right out of his clothes in what had to be a record-fast shift and was wrestling something huge and furry. It was humanoid and outlandishly tall—at least eight feet—with long, sharp teeth that flashed and snapped. Wolf and beast bashed to the ground in a blur of limbs and ear-piercing snarls. Lana watched in horror as Ty’s black-brown pelt twisted and leaped around the whitish-beige form of the beast.
She’d only ever seen Ty that furious once—the night she’d almost fallen victim to a band of rogue coyotes. This fight looked every bit as lethal as that one had been. Lana pushed the children toward Nala and prepared to jump into her own shift to help Ty. Whatever the beast was he was fighting, it would take more than one wolf to beat.
Nala screamed across the clearing. “Stop! Harrison, stop! Lana, stop Ty!”
Lana lurched at the words. Why should she stop Ty at a moment like this? It was life or death.
“Harrison, stop!” Nala yelled.
Lana peered at the flailing, snarling figure, and realization dawned. Harrison?
“Ty! Stop!” She jumped forward, joining in Nala’s refrain. “Don’t kill him!”
But Ty already had the beast pinned on its back and his jaws poised over the exposed neck, a line of saliva dripping from his muzzle. The tall creatur
e was prone and frozen in surrender.
“Ty! Stop!” Lana inched closer. A wolf in full battle mode was no laughing matter, even if it was her own mate.
Ty growled right into her mind. I don’t know who this is. I don’t know what this is, but it dies. Now.
“No! Don’t! Ty! We know him!” Lana stepped forward, but Ty shifted his haunches to block her, keeping his body between her and what he assumed was an enemy. “Ty, stop!” How to explain that Harrison was a fellow shifter, an ally?
He snarled so deeply, it vibrated in her bones. You know this thing?
“Ty! Please!” Lana cried. “Jesus, Harrison, what the hell were you thinking?”
Ty froze at the beast’s throat. Who the hell is Harrison?
“Him! The sasquatch! Ty, he’s a friend of my brother’s. Tell him, Harrison.”
The furry humanoid under Ty’s paws gave a meek wave, prompting Ty to lean deeper and snarl louder as a second thread of saliva dripped from his jaws.
“Please call off your dog, Lana,” the sasquatch groaned under his breath.
Lana stiffened and put her hands on her hips. “He’s my mate, you idiot.”
You know this ass? Ty muttered, jaws still poised to deliver the death blow.
“Uncle Ty! Uncle Ty!” the kids chimed in, recovered from their shock. “It’s Harrison.”
I don’t care who it is. He threatened the cubs. He dies.
Lana eased in closer and stretched a hand to Ty’s haunches, trying to settle him. Harrison had been known to pull stupid stunts in his time, but rushing out of the woods to play-scare a couple of kids—with Ty around? That was suicide, even for a sasquatch.
Her heart lurched at the realization of the risk Ty had taken. Enemy sasquatch had been known to hurl full-grown wolves into trees, inflicting the kinds of injuries even quick-healing shifters couldn’t recover from. And though Harrison was a friend of her home pack, everyone knew to stay clear of his reach, just in case. Ty had risked everything for her and the kids.
“Ty, my love, back down.” She slid a hand down his back. Harrison looked well and truly beat, but she wanted her mate away from those powerful arms.
Ty didn’t back off an inch, though. The only thing that changed was the sound of thumping feet as Lana’s brothers arrived on the scene.
“What’s going on?” Neal came skidding halt beside her.
“We were walking along when Harrison here decided to play boo,” Lana said, shaking her head. “It’s okay, Ty. You can let him go.”
Lachlan pulled up short beside Neal. “Fuck me, look at that.”
Nala slapped his arm. “Watch your language.”
“Sorry. But I mean, look at that. He’s got Harrison pinned.”
Lana rubbed the length of Ty’s back until she reached the thick ruff of his neck. A collar would be handy at a time like this.
Then it hit her. Her mate had managed to pin the sasquatch. No wolf in the Berkshires had ever managed that feat. Not in a hundred friendly wrestling matches, not in a dozen hard-fought battles against others of Harrison’s kind. Never. A spike of pride pushed itself into her heart alongside the awful fear of losing her mate.
“Ty, please back off.”
“Whoa. What happened?” That was Len, her younger brother, joining the crowd.
Fucking Chewbacca here jumped Lana and the kids, Ty grumbled right into everyone’s mind.
For all the force in those words, Lana caught a little warble, too. One that told her how scared he’d been for her and the kids.
“It’s okay, Ty,” she whispered, stroking his ears in the spot where all his aggression and tension tended to collect. “Let him go.”
Ty eased back but kept his lips pulled high in a menacing snarl, his body braced like a brick wall between Lana and the enemy.
Harrison waved his hands in self-defense. “I wasn’t attacking! It was a joke!”
Some fucking joke, Ty scowled.
Len was laughing, but Neal was red in the face. He pushed past Ty, hauled Harrison up, and shook him, hard—or as hard as a six-foot man could shake an eight-foot sasquatch, anyway.
“You do that again…” Neal trailed off.
Harrison’s yellow-tinted eyes went to Ty, and he gulped. “I won’t! I promise!”
Ty, still in wolf form, gave Harrison a spiteful look-over as the chagrined sasquatch shrank back into his human form.
He’s a shifter? A Bigfoot shifter?
From the tone of Ty’s voice, Lana knew those words were only for her, and she answered in kind. Yes. He goes from Bigfoot to…this.
This meant a lanky, seven-foot man with a beard halfway down his chest and long locks of hair that dangled in his eyes. In human form, Harrison looked like a mountain hermit who’d stayed too long in the woods. Which was pretty much what a sasquatch was.
You got other shifters out here I need to know about? Ty asked, his wolf still showing his teeth.
It’s the Berkshires, Ty. We have lots of shifters. Wolves, bears… There used to be a cougar shifter too, but I think she’s moved on.
And vampires? What about them? The way Ty said it implied bone-deep hate.
No, they’re all down in Boston. Cambridge is full of them. But not here.
Ty snorted.
“Come on, Ty,” Lana said, tugging at the nape of his neck. “Let’s go.”
“Yes, let’s,” Neal added in an icy tone that said just how angry he was. He herded Nala and the kids ahead of him, leaving Harrison behind.
“But I didn’t mean it!” Harrison cried, so broken and lonely Lana almost felt sorry for him. Almost. The man had screwed up royally, that was for sure. Thank God no one had been hurt.
Thank God Ty hadn’t been hurt. That refrain played in her mind, over and over.
Ty stayed in wolf form all the way back to the village, and she stroked his back the whole time, trying to settle her nerves, as well as her mate’s. With Ty as big as he was, she didn’t have to bend over to reach him. Thank God you’re OK. Thank God you’re OK.
They’d gone the last two years in a sort of happy haze, she realized, losing sight of reality. In the shifter world, there was danger everywhere. It could come anywhere, anytime, in any form. Even this close to home.
Lana, my love, Ty’s voice drifted to her mind, quieter than before. It’s okay.
Now he was the one comforting her. Lana forced her fingers to release the fur she’d been clutching. She could have pulled out a handful, and Ty wouldn’t have uttered a word. The part of her that ceased trembling in fear started quivering with other emotions: love, of course, and appreciation for the luck she’d had in meeting him. Humility, too, because shifters weren’t immortal, not by a long shot.
The kids ran ahead, spreading news of the encounter to the curious faces gathering in the street.
“Ty floored Harrison!” her nephew called, enthralled.
“Ty almost killed Harrison!” her niece squeaked, hero-worship filling her voice.
Ty scowled harder. What are they on about?
Lana cocked her head at him. Hadn’t he figured it out?
Ty, Harrison is the biggest shifter in this part of the state. He’s never been knocked off his feet, let alone floored. Never.
Ty scoffed.
“Ty beat Harrison!” the kids sang on.
A crowd was gathering, but Ty obviously wanted out. Way out. He whisked straight past the whispers and the wide-eyed looks, right to the guesthouse at the far end of the street. Lana pushed the door open for him without a word, letting her mate step into their private sanctuary. For all the alpha in her mate, she knew he wasn’t one for the limelight. All he knew was to protect, to provide, to defend.
She gave him his peace, going back to the others to quiet them and play down the encounter as she knew Ty would prefer.
“He had Harrison by the throat!” Len was saying as Lana walked up.
“He what?” That was her father, throwing an appreciative look in the direction of the guesthouse.<
br />
Lana couldn’t help but swell with pride. Her mate—the big, bad wolf of the desert—was no longer a stranger. He’d earned the respect of the Berkshires pack.
“You should have seen it!” Neal added.
A legend is born, Lana thought, watching the slack-jawed faces.
Five minutes was all she managed; then she made for the cabin, eager to check on her mate. A minute later, she was over the three creaky steps and at the front door. It was still ajar from when she’d let Ty in. She pushed it a little wider and leaned inside. Would she find a glowering wolf, tail whisking in anger, or a thunderous man, ready to damn the Berkshires forever?
CHAPTER FIVE
“Ty?” she called.
The house was silent but for the sound of flowing water. She shut the front door and stepped toward the bathroom, where she could make out her mate’s outline through the opaque glass of the shower door. His head and hands were leaning against the opposite wall as water cascaded down his broad back.
“Ty,” she whispered, aching at the sight. She stripped and stepped into the stall behind him, letting her hands soothe his back.
Mate. Mine, her inner wolf sighed.
“You okay?” she whispered, tucking her body around his. His skin was warm to the touch, warm as the water flowing over the both of them now. The man had been pushed right to the edge, scared as much as she’d been, though not for himself.
Bit by bit, some of the rigidity went out of his back, and a whisper reached her ears. “Sorry.”
She tightened her embrace. “Nothing to be sorry about. Harrison deserved a good scare.”
He turned to face her, tilting his head right, then left, as if he weren’t so sure.
“I mean, sorry if I scared you. Or the kids.”
So that was it, what had been eating at him. “Never be sorry about defending your family.” She turned him around to look up into his eyes. “Never.”
His jaw was working back and forth like it did when he couldn’t find the right words. Words had never been his thing, but who needed them when his eyes were saying it all? I will never let anyone harm you, they said. I will fight to the death for you.