by Eliza Gayle
When he broke through the next clearing of trees, he finally saw the lights that illuminated Galen’s pretentious big ass house. Not that he didn’t have the perfect excuse for one. He needed it, and so would Kenzie despite having her heart set on that castle at the top of the blasted mountain he’d nearly killed himself getting down from.
Crazy fucking dragons.
When he finally reached the front door, he slid to a halt and shifted back to human in record time. He could have been polite and knocked, but there was nothing about this situation that called for polite.
She was his.
And as his, he had a right to protect her.
He popped open the door with the full force of the shifter. It banged open and slammed against the wall.
As he prowled through the house he yelled, “Kenzie! Where are you?”
That got someone’s attention. Two men he didn’t recognize walked out of the kitchen, their eyes wide and anger stamped across their faces.
“Good Goddess, man. Where are your manners?”
Before Simon could answer he felt the sizzle and pop of magic shimmering across his skin. He looked down in time to see he wore a—skirt.
“What the hell?”
“It’s a kilt. I was in a hurry and that’s my go to. I take it you must be Simon. I’m Ian, by the way,” the younger man held out his hand.
He shook it on autopilot. “Where is she?”
“Resting, I’d hope. That was some nasty business she went through for you. I sure hope you’re worth it. On second thought, you had better be. Take that as a warning.”
Simon growled. He did not have time for games. He pushed past the other man and yelled for Kenzie again.
“She’s probably in her room, back staircase straight ahead.”
“I know where it is,” Simon snarled as he hurtled down the hallway in search of his mate.
In his periphery, he noticed another man emerge from the kitchen and ask, “Was that the boyfriend?”
“Yeah. Couldn’t you tell? He smells like Kenzie.”
“Oh Goddess, I wish you would all stop talking about our sister’s sex life. That’s more information than I ever wanted in a lifetime. T.M.I., dude.”
Simon didn’t slow, but the words registered and he would definitely have to revisit that conversation later. For now, Kenzie was the top priority.
He jumped down the full flight of stairs in one leap and landed on his feet in front of another group of men. At least one of these he recognized.
“Galen.” The word came out a lot like an accusation and he didn’t care. These assholes had allowed this to happen. They’d fucking neutered their sister like a pet animal. His anger grew by the second.
Her brother turned and blocked the entrance to Kenzie’s room. Simon was one second from ripping his head off. In close quarters like this he’d bet he had the advantage. He could kill or maim Galen before he could get that dragon loose. As for the other men, well, that would depend on whether there was enough room for all of them to shift. He was betting not.
“You’re not going in there until you calm down. She’s been through enough because of you.”
“Because of me!” Simon roared. “I didn’t want this, you asshole. I told her to wait. We could have found another way.”
Galen shook his head. “That’s a risk none of us were willing to take, including her. This was a family decision.”
Simon stepped forward, a growl leaking from his throat with every step. “I’m her family now too.”
“That may be. But you didn’t go through what the rest of us did.”
“I know what happened.”
“Knowing and living it aren’t the same. Not even close. Now calm the fuck down because she needs your support not your anger. The witch warned us it was going to hurt, but I think we all underestimated how much.”
“I’m going in.”
All three men standing between him and Kenzie closed ranks. “No, you are not. And I’ll eject your ass from this house if you even think about saying one cross word to that woman in there. As far as you’re concerned our sister’s a fucking saint. Is that clear?”
Some of Simon’s anger deflated in the face of her brother’s fierce protectiveness of Kenzie. On any other day he would be grateful for her to have such protection. Today however, he could not calm his wolf until he talked to Kenzie.
“I appreciate that you want to protect your sister. Really, I do. But today is not the day for 100% reasons. As much as I love logic, sometimes it takes a backseat, if you know what I mean. I’m worried about her well-being and my wolf is about to tear one of your heads off. I think we’re going to have to come to a compromise.”
The three men looked at each other and Galen nodded his head. “He won’t hurt her. He loves her. Let him go, Aleck.”
The one named Aleck glowered at him for several more minutes. “Seriously, one cross word and I’ll kill you myself.”
Simon nodded. He could live with that. He knew the day would come when he and Kenzie had to deal with their communication issues, but right now he just needed to hold her and see for himself that she was alright. He brushed past the men who gave him just enough to squeeze by and entered the dark cavernous space.
He smiled, knowing full well that this was exactly how she liked her lair. Dark and open. He had a feeling that came from a light sensitivity that affected her eyes. There just hadn’t been a chance to bring that up yet.
He rushed to her bed, where she was buried under covers, her face pale and her bright red hair fanned across the pillow. He moved quickly to her side when Lara appeared from the shadows.
“She’s okay.”
“How can you be sure?” he asked, immediately regretting his biting tone.
“Because she is strong. And she has faith. In the magic and in you. I hope you know how much she loves you. She wanted to wait for you.”
“I wish you would have.” The pain of what she had to have endured lanced through him.
“I too waited for you. But we don’t have long. The sleep spell I put her under to recover is wearing off. She will wake soon.”
“We don’t have long for what?”
She glanced at the door, lifted a hand and chanted something he couldn’t make out. “We don’t want nosy brothers to overhear.”
She wasn’t making any sense and he was running out of patience. He turned to go to Kenzie and Lara grabbed his arm to stop him.
“There is something I need to tell you. I wasn’t completely honest before. Although you must understand that I wasn’t sure who I could trust in this scenario. Especially considering no one would tell me why this spell was so urgent. It’s not natural forcing a woman barren so I can imagine the reason is likely horrifying.”
Simon thought of the story Kinzie told him of her sister. A story he would never repeat to another soul.
“But you know, don’t you?”
He remained silent, but they both knew what his silence meant.
“I wasn’t going to tell anyone the truth, but Kane insisted you were worthy of the knowledge. Will you keep my secret?” she asked.
He really had no idea what she was talking about, but he’d agree to just about anything if it meant she would leave him alone with Kenzie. “Sure,” he said with one eye on the bed.
“I lied about how permanent this spell would be.”
Simon jerked his head towards Lara. “What?” That certainly got his attention.
“I didn’t know what I was getting myself into and I still don’t. So I lied. I told her what I thought she wanted to hear. Or maybe what she needed to hear. Either way, they all believed and despite the tension seething within these walls, there is now a sense of relief as well.”
“Then why are you telling me now? Why not keep the secret to yourself?”
She dropped her head. “You will be her mate. Only a mate will know when the spell needs to be broken.” She passed a piece of folded paper into his hand. “And only a m
ate can break it.”
She started past him as his mind reeled from all the possibilities of what this meant. There had to be a million questions he should be asking her, and right now he could think of none. Before she disappeared through the door she stopped and turned back. “Choose wisely, Simon. Once the spell has been broken it cannot be redone.”
He closed his eyes at that last little nugget of information and then quickly opened them again. He had another question, only Lara was gone. He turned side to side and found nothing. Despite the door having not been opened, she’d disappeared.
Fucking witches. No wonder they creeped everyone out half the time.
He shrugged off the disorientation and rushed to Kenzie. She was so beautiful in sleep that it made his chest ache. Even though it was completely unnecessary because of his superb hearing, he placed his fingers over her carotid and felt for a pulse. The rhythm beat as strong and steady under his hand as it did in his ears.
He quickly moved to the opposite side of the bed and pulled up the covers and slipped in. The idea of the pain she had taken on so that they could be together was quickly shredding his self control. He needed to feel her against him.
Simon wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against his front. He swore he heard a soft sigh, but he wasn’t sure if that came from her or his wolf. He leaned forward and buried his face in her hair and began kissing at her scalp as he clung to her. He had plans to kiss and worship every inch of her as soon as she woke, which he hoped wouldn’t be long.
“Simon, what are you doing here?” Kenzie turned and blinked up at him, her eyes still looking sleepy.
“I think the better question is what were you doing here without me? And more importantly, how do you feel?” he whispered into her hair.
“I feel really good.” She sounded like she meant that in more than one way. “I had to do it, you know. It was a family decision.”
“I’m your family now too. Although you seem to have trouble remembering that.”
She rolled into his arms until they were face to face. “Never,” she said. “But this was different. We were all thinking about the past. Our healing process demanded we do this together.”
He heard the crack in her voice and knew that what she’d done had been the right decision for her. If it was right for her then it was right for him as well.
“I love you, Simon. I’m not always going to remember to say it, but I do. I did this for us. I swear it.” She leaned forward and pressed her warm lips to his.
He groaned at the contact. “Don’t be sweet now, Kenzie. I’m supposed to be mad at you.”
Her mouth turned down into a slight frown. “Are you really?”
“I don’t know. I was scared out of my mind the whole way here, then I was angry. Now I think I’m just relieved that you are okay.”
“I’m better than okay now that you’re here. Thank you for not being pissed at me. My brothers tend to be a bit overwhelming, but when a family dilemma presents itself they are quick to take action. I didn’t even know that Galen had made arrangements with Lara until minutes before she arrived.”
“Speaking of. I had no idea they would be here so they might not like me very much right now.”
She laughed, the sound warming him from the inside out. “Oh, they like you.”
“How could you possibly know that? You’ve been sleeping the night away like Sleeping Beauty.”
“You’re here, aren’t you? Trust me. If they didn’t like you, you would not be allowed anywhere near our private quarters no matter what the situation. They are fiercely protective of their privacy.”
He wasn’t completely certain of her assessment, but he wasn’t going to argue her point. They had more important things to focus on.
“So what happens next?” she asked, her voice coming out on a slight tremble. He had no idea what she had to be nervous at. She’d already won the guy.
“Depends on what you want. You went to all this trouble to make our mating possible, there’s no way I’m walking away now. Not that that was ever on the table to begin with.”
“I know this might sound crazy after all we’ve been through, but my brothers are shockingly traditional when it comes to ‘the family’. They will expect you to reside in the castle with me.”
He groaned. “Are we really calling that crumbling piece of rock a castle?”
“Hey! I’ll have you know I have made tremendous strides on the remodel in the last few weeks. We should be able to move into my quarters in a week or two. Or maybe a bit more.”
He rolled, placing his body over hers while keeping most of his weight on his elbows. “I love you, Kenzie. I’m with you wherever you want to be. Even if that means living in a run down old stone castle on the top of a remote mountain. Although we are going to have to find me an alternative means of transportation. I can’t take two days to get to work and I refuse to be the guy who needs his woman to bring him to work every day.”
Her laughter rang out and quickly devolved to giggles that had them both rolling across the bed. When she finally came up gasping and out of breath she yelled, “You’ve got a deal. Now kiss me like you mean it and let’s call it good.”
And he did.
Kiss her like he meant it.
Deep, thorough and without restraint.
Epilogue Part 1
Three weeks later
“Any news?” After two weeks of craziness, Simon and Rafe finally sat down to share a beer, although his mind quickly wandered away from the conversation when in a déjà vu moment, the door to the Dark Moon bar swung open and Kenzie waltzed through exactly as she had the night they met.
Her scent slammed into him and although it was different without the mating heat, it was no less alluring. His body tightened and he began calculating how long it would take him to get them somewhere private.
“I’m going to take that as a no,” Rafe said. “And I think I’m going to take off considering your brain has gone south since your mate walked in.”
Simon pulled his attention away from Kenzie as best he could. “Kitty came in this afternoon for some blood tests and I left it in Marci’s capable hands to handle it. She’s been geeking out over my research almost as much as I have. She’ll let us know if she finds anything.”
“I’m just glad that serum didn’t kill her. I don’t know what I would have done…”
Simon did. Because now that he had Kenzie in his life, he knew exactly what would happen if anything ever happened to her and it wouldn’t be pretty. The violent urges of the wolf that he kept contained would break free and he’d probably never have control again. He’d go feral.
Kenzie gave him a look and proceeded to the bar so that he could finish his talk with Rafe. But watching her body language as she talked to Calder was beginning to mess with his head.
“Go. Save your woman from that insufferable bear. One of these days he’s going to get too friendly and well, no more bear.”
Simon barked out a laugh at Rafe’s bad attitude about Calder. The bartender had likely done nothing to warrant it, but the women flocked to him nonetheless. Not that he would ever—that man and his bear were extremely devoted to his mate, Jessa. And as far as he was concerned, the two of them deserved a happy life together. She’d been through the ringer with the Blackwood pack during his time with them.
Those damned wolves nearly ruined all of his hard work by trying to create genetically enhanced shifter/human babies.
He shook off those memories and crossed to the bar. After settling his hand across Kenzie’s back he leaned in to nip at her neck.
“I wondered how long you were going to let me flirt with Calder.”
Calder held up his hands in surrender. “Whoa. Don’t get me involved in this. I’d rather not have to fight your mate tonight.”
Simon snarled, although there was no heat in it. He was in a damn good mood and even happier now that she was here.
“Don’t start something you aren’t g
oing to finish,” Kenzie teased.
“Oh, I’ll finish it.” He grabbed her around the waist and lifted her into his arms. She didn’t hesitate to wrap her long, strong legs around him, which put her in the perfect place… “Right here if you aren’t careful.”
He ignored the groan behind him. That’s what the bear got for flirting with his woman.
“Let’s go outside,” he whispered in her ear low enough that only she heard it.
“You and outside,” she laughed. “You have some sort of kink with the outdoors?”
He slid his hand down and pinched her ass. “I’m impatient. Especially when my mate is such a tease.”
They were both laughing as he carried her to the door, but before they could leave his phone began vibrating in his pocket.
“Wow. You must be really happy to see me.” Her eyes sparkled with mischief and Goddess help him that gave him new ideas on how to handle her next. He had a feeling his mate was going to keep him on his toes.
“I need to check on this. Marci’s running the clinic this evening and might need my help.”
“Answer it. But if it’s not an outright emergency tell her you’re busy.”
He smiled. “Bossy much?”
She smirked and lifted her shoulder. Yep. Definitely on his toes. He shifted more of her weight to one arm and dug into his front pocket with the other for his cell. It wasn’t a call, but a text marked urgent. He pressed his finger against the button to unlock it and waited impatiently for the message to pop up.
It was brief. Only two words. But they were some of the sweetest two words he’d ever read.
He sucked in sharp breath.
She’s pregnant.
He needed no further explanation. He knew exactly what that message meant.
“What is it?” Kenzie asked.
Before he could answer her though his attention was pulled to another cell phone beeping just a few feet away where Rafe still stood.
He briefly met his friend’s gaze and barely stifled a smile as he bent to read his screen. Rafe lifted his head and for a second he looked shell shocked. Maybe even a little paler than usual too.