by Marilu Mann
Another ripple ran through her body, she could feel her skin and bones realigning, felt a slight sense of falling. This time the shift didn’t feel as strange to her although Olivia still didn’t like the elongating of her face into the muzzle of her wolf self. Still, she gave a brief howl of triumph only to follow it with a yelp of frustration when she realized paws would not open the door. Throwing her body against the wood, Olivia gave voice to her situation.
“All right, already! Shut up, will ya?” One of the guards stood at the door. “So, are you going in like that or as your two-legged self?”
Olivia’s answering snarl sent him stumbling back a few steps. Once he was out of her sight, she focused on what Micah had said before. Just put the pieces of the puzzle back together, Liv. Remember yourself human. Concentrating again, she willed herself back to human form.
The joy she felt in finding her human form much faster than she’d found the wolf spurred Olivia. Dressing quickly, she returned to the gate. “Now tell me where Talia and Micah are.”
With a knowing grin, one of the guards jerked a thumb toward the house. “In the door and to your left. Great room. Hearing’s been going on for forty-five minutes though. You’d better hurry.”
“Your Honor! It’s clear this shifter is not fit to be this child’s guardian. Surely her mother would not have wanted a man who would so casually mate and mark another and then let her leave him to rear her only child? Surely she would want the security of a real Pack for this poor orphaned child.” The words rang in the room as Micah’s nails dug into the arms of the chair where he sat.
The Pack had set the great room up as close to a courtroom as they could. The judge, also a shifter, sat in the front of the room and another shifter worked the steno machine. For all intents and purposes this was a legal proceeding and Micah had never felt more out of his element.
The judge nodded. “Is this true, Mr. Keeps Vigil? Smell would tell me that you are bonded, but I can get no aroma of your mate. Why are you here without her? You have no Pack, no mate. Are you a lone wolf, sir? Remember you are under oath.”
Micah stood. The air crackled with the anticipation of the Compound Pack. He could see Frank smirking at him and knew the bastard was smelling victory. His friends sat silently waiting for him to call them to his defense, but he felt mute. The judge was right. What kind of man was he who wouldn’t take up his role as Alpha-who lost his mate because he couldn’t convince her to accept his life? Opening his mouth, he began to declare defeat.
“You are right, Your Honor,” was all he got out before another voice interrupted him.
“No, actually, Your Honor, you are wrong. Micah does have a mate and I’m here now. Where I was is really not important. All that matters is that I am right where I belong. With my mate.” The feel of Olivia’s hand tucking into his made Micah want to howl with joy. He couldn’t help but turn to face her, he wanted desperately to pull her into his arms.
“Olivia? What are you doing here? Did you get my message?” Micah heard his own voice break and felt torn between his desire to sweep Olivia into his arms and his anguish over losing Talia. Turning to the judge, he began to speak again.
“Your Honor, I’d like you to meet my-” But another voice rang out.
“Pack, Your Honor. He’d like you meet at least part of his Pack. I am Gareth Volpe, this is Pete Standing Elk and his mate Margie and we represent the forty-seven members of the Wild Haven Lodge Pack from Howard, Wisconsin.” Gareth paused to stare straight at Micah, standing with his head up and not trying to hide his scars or the patch over his eye in any way. “We’re Micah Keeps Vigil’s Pack.”
Micah swallowed hard, nodding at Gareth standing unflinching in front of his former Pack as the room filled with whispers. Pete and several other members of the now named Lodge Pack stood at Gareth’s back, all of them smiling at Micah and Olivia. Olivia put her arm around Micah and turned him back to face the judge as angry voices erupted from the room. The Compound Pack shifters stood to challenge the strangers in their midst. The judge bellowed over everyone until order could be restored. The burly were-bear judge glowered around the now-silent room. “Another outburst like that and I’ll shred the lot of you. No one does that in my courtroom, do you hear me? No one.”
At the thundering echo of his roar every shifter in the room managed to find their seat. Even Micah swiftly sat, pulling Olivia into his lap. She tucked her head under his chin and whispered, “I’m so sorry, Micah.”
He silenced her with a kiss. A cough from the front of the room reminded him where he was so he raised his eyes to the judge.
“Given the overwhelming last-minute evidence, Mr. Keeps Vigil, I must reconsider my lone wolf statement. For you are certainly overwhelmed with Pack for a so-called loner.” The judge leveled a cold look at the compound’s lawyers. “I suppose there is a good reason for that vicious accusation?”
Only stuttering and stammering came from the compound side with Frank snapping at his legal help, his smirk nowhere in evidence now. Even when they pulled it together and tried to regain their momentum, it was clear that the judge’s favor was for Micah. Though the judge retired to another room to deliberate, the decision came as a surprise to no one when he named Micah guardian. However the Compound Pack was given visitation rights which did not make Micah happy but he knew he would deal with that as it came.
Finally the moment came when Talia was released from the room she’d been held in. Her tear-stained face nearly broke Micah’s heart as she flung herself into his arms. She leaned from his arms to Olivia. Olivia returned the fervent hug with whispered promises to never leave again.
“Livia? Will you be my new mommy?”
Olivia stared at her for a moment then swallowed. “If Micah still wants me, yes, baby, I will. I will try to be the best parent I can be, but you will have to help me, okay?”
Micah shook his head. “As if there were any question about that, Liv. You belong with me, we all belong together. We’re a family.”
Sniffling, Talia nodded then paused. “Livia? Are you gonna have a boy or a girl?”
“What?” More than one voice exploded on that question.
With careful questioning and Julia’s equally sensitive nose, Olivia’s pregnancy was quickly confirmed. Wrapping his arms around his mate and his child, Micah tipped his head back and let loose a howl of pure joy.
It didn’t take long for the courtroom to empty. Though Tony and Carly offered the new family their guestrooms, Micah opted to take his mate and child somewhere he knew they could all be alone for a bit. He and Olivia had some unfinished business, something he intended to take care of as soon as he could get her alone.
They returned to his hotel where Micah upgraded his room to a suite with two bedrooms. Eating their first meal together as a real family, Olivia and Micah kept touching one another’s hands or faces while Talia sat safely between them, talking a mile a minute about what she wanted to do as soon as they got home. Micah felt his heart swell as he realized he would soon be taking both his mate and his daughter home-to stay. It didn’t take long for Talia to start yawning and for Micah and Olivia’s glances to become more yearning. As soon as the child’s head bobbed for the second time, Micah scooped her up into his arms and carried her into one of the bedrooms.
Tucking Talia safely into one bed and waiting until he knew she slept deeply, Micah watched his mate and his daughter. He couldn’t believe Olivia had come back the way she had. He had a feeling he owed a debt to a certain surly shifter-or more likely, that their slate was now even. Catching Olivia’s gaze, he nodded toward the other bedroom.
She took his hand as they walked into the other room, closing the door behind them. Olivia turned to face him and Micah smiled slightly. “Liv, sweetheart, we really need to talk.”
“Micah, honestly, you talk more than any man I’ve ever met in my life! You want talk, okay, I’ll give you talk. I’ll start. I was wrong. It was stupid of me to run from you, from what we had-or w
hat we almost had. But you were wrong too. You were wrong not to tell me what it meant when I marked you. You were wrong not to tell me what that meant for you when I left you.”
Olivia punctuated each of her statements with a finger to his chest. Micah backed up as she took the initiative, tossing words at him like knives, each sentence cutting across his senses. When his back hit the wall, Micah grabbed Olivia’s fingers to keep her from drilling into his chest any more.
Pulling her unresisting body into his arms, he stopped her tirade by kissing her. Olivia opened to him immediately. Yanking her hand out of his, she wrapped both arms around his neck and stroked her tongue across his. Micah slid both hands down her back to her ass, pulling her close and lifting her so that her pussy rested right against his suddenly raging hard-on.
“We’ll talk later.” Olivia’s laughter filled his heart as he quickly stripped her of her suit then removed his own clothing. Dragging her down onto the bed with him, Micah stroked his hands and his mouth over her skin, drawing her scent into his lungs and his heart.
Olivia’s hands streaked across his shoulders, her nails curling into his skin, scratching up his neck. She tugged at his braid until she had his hair completely loose then stroked his scalp. “I missed you so much, Micah.”
“I know, love, I know.” Micah opened his mouth over her breast, sucking her nipple deep, savoring her taste. She arched under him, holding his head tightly to her. Micah ran his hands over her stomach and down to the curls on her mound. Stroking his fingers through the dampness, he parted her with his fingers, sliding across her clit and just pushing the tip of one finger inside her. Olivia spread her legs immediately, holding tightly to his head as he continued to nip at her breasts.
Bringing some of her own body’s moisture out to ease his path, Micah pushed his fingers deep into her body then out to tease across her rapidly hardening nub. Olivia pulled hard on his hair, yanking his head up so she could kiss him.
“Micah, I need you. I need you so much.”
“Not as much as I need you, Liv. You’re mine. Mine now and forever.” Without waiting any longer, Micah drove his cock deep and hard into his woman, his mate. She grabbed his ass, digging her fingers in and pulling hard on him.
“Yes, yours. And you’re mine, all mine, now and forever.”
“Forever.” Micah withdrew then drove in hard again. Olivia lifted her hips, taking his thrusts, meeting them with her own ardor, wrapping her legs around his to hold him against her body.
She kissed every part of him she could reach, then trailed her tongue over the mark on his chest. Micah felt an almost electric jolt go through his body and dropped his head to her neck. He found the mark he’d left on her and licked it, sucked gently. Olivia cried out then covered the mark on his chest with her mouth. She sucked and Micah lost control. He pushed his hips forward as far as he could, felt his cock touch her womb and felt his seed spewing out, coating her channel. Olivia gasped for air and he felt her reach completion as he continued to jerk against her.
Collapsing onto his mate then quickly rolling to the side so he didn’t squish her, Micah stared down into Olivia’s dazed eyes. The smile she gifted him with would stay with him for years to come. Olivia snuggled up closer to him and sighed. “Micah, when can we go home?”
“Soon, love, very soon. There are some people here I want you to meet first.”
“When can we run, Micah?”
He leaned back to stare at her. “Run?”
Olivia got to her hands and knees, leaning over his body much as he had hers some time ago. “Yes, Micah, run. When can we run together?”
The grin that broke across his face felt as though it would split his skull. “As soon as you have our child, my love, I’ll take you for the run of your life. We’ll run all night if you want.”
“I want, Micah. I want to run through the woods with you, wake with you, sleep with you for the rest of my life.”
“Olivia, you’ve taken the words right out of my mouth and I’ll never let you go again.” And he proceeded to kiss the breath right out of her.
About the Author
Marilu Mann brings the steaminess of the Louisiana bayous to her books and she doesn’t stop there. Marilu’s willing to travel to the frozen tundra of Wisconsin to heat up those northern nights and melt a little snow. She’ll also circle the world to Wales, Ireland, Scotland and back just to bring you books that make you sweat.
Currently residing in Texas, Marilu is an avid armchair traveler. Her sexy shifters will set your blood to boiling in no time. Owned by one Diva Teen and various animals, Marilu keeps busy writing the novels her readers beg for.
Marilu is thrilled to be a part of the Ellora’s Cave family and loves to hear from readers.
Escape Into the Fantasy…
The author welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.
Tell Us What You Think
We appreciate hearing reader opinions about our books. You can email us at [email protected].
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