by Gwen Knight
My stomach growled.
“Good. I was worried you wouldn’t be hungry. Get down here, girl. We have a lot to celebrate.”
“We do?”
Her eyes shot wide. “You’re alive. Isn’t that enough?”
Maybe. Today, that didn’t feel like a blessing. The physical wounds were healing, but my heart felt heavy still. It’d been four days since I’d killed Alasdair. Two since I’d woken up. And still, no word from Knox.
“Come on. Let’s sit and have breakfast. I have a few gifts for you.”
I winced. “Mom. I don’t…I didn’t have time…”
“Shh. I’ve already been given the greatest gift. You’re alive. Nothing else matters.”
My mom. One of the best ladies I’d ever met. And refusing to ruin her good cheer, I eased over to the chair she’d pulled out for me and sat. The food smelled heavenly. And I was starved. But I hadn’t the energy.
She watched me out of the corner of her eye, her fork held loosely in her hands. “You want to talk about it?”
Not particularly. But I could see she did. She practically squirmed in her seat.
First things first, I cut off a piece of pancake and forced it into my mouth. Relief brightened her eyes, and she dug into her own meal.
“Where’s…Conrad?” I asked, hesitating over his name.
“Away from here, that’s all that matters.”
I chewed my pancake while waiting.
She sighed and lowered her fork. “He’s staying at the Marriot. I told him he wasn’t welcome here anymore.”
“Is he…all right?”
“Physically, he looks the same. His eyes are different, though. And his aura.”
“You know, then?” I wanted to be sure.
“Oh, I know,” she growled. “I could have ripped that man limb from limb when I found out what he’d done.” She gave a bitter laugh. “I never would have thought it possible?”
“How are you?” I wasn’t the only one affected by his actions.
“Managing,” she murmured. “Livid most days. Hurt others. I trusted him, you know?”
And he’d handed her over to some fae like she was nothing more than a broodmare.
Time to change the topic. “How’s Mathis handling things?”
“Very well.” Pride lifted her chin. “I offered to help with any transitioning, but he’s taken to the role quickly. A natural.”
The pack should have always been his. “Glad to hear it.”
“He’ll be good for us, Rumor. And on the upside, you and I are still welcome in the pack. No one harbors ill will toward us.”
Then the truth was out. Everyone knew I was half-fae. Half-fae. Just thinking the words…what did that even mean?
“I wasn’t sure when to tell you this…but a messenger dropped by yesterday.”
“A messenger?”
“From the fae queen. She…wants an audience with you.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “What?”
“I wasn’t permitted to ask any questions. Just to pass that along.”
I rested my elbows on the table and braced my head. I didn’t want to deal with the fae, didn’t want to know what any of this had to do with me. I was a werewolf, through and through.
“How are you feeling?” my mother asked, yet again diverting us off the more frightening conversations.
I sighed. “I’m sore. But better. Juniper told me Alasdair is dead?”
She nodded, happiness smoothing over her face. “You did it, baby girl. A stroke of genius, that iron athame.”
“Dad told you?”
“Nah. That Knox fellow of yours.”
“He isn’t mine,” I groused.
She watched me for a moment, her fork dangling in her grip. “No, I guess not. Either way, though. The pack cleaned up the mess, called in the police for the Cleary shop. My understanding is that the Seelie Court disavowed Alasdair and his actions. Maybe they think that’s enough.”
I snorted under my breath. Not by a long shot.
“Those poor women.” My mother sighed, referring to the sisters.
I didn’t want to talk about them. They currently held a starring role in my nightmares, alongside Alasdair.
“Mom?”
She lifted her head.
“You’re…okay with me…” I couldn’t finish the words. My face crumpled. I wanted to ask how she felt about me being half-fae. Did it change her feelings about me? I was terrified to hear the answer.
She pushed away from the table and circled around to me. Before I could speak, she crouched down and hugged me. “Darling, you could be part vampire, and I’d still love you.”
I gave a watery laugh. “There’s no chance of that, right?”
“Oh, God, I hope not. Come on.” She rose and took my plate. “Clearly you aren’t going to eat. Let’s crank the carols and open gifts. I…put out the ones your father got you. It’s up to you whether or not you want to open them.”
“Mom.”
She shook her head. “He might be your biological father, but he raised you. I might hate the bastard with every bone in my body, but I won’t stand in your way if you wish to continue a relationship with him.”
Like hell. I wanted nothing more to do with that bastard. Still, her offer astounded me. “You’re incredible, you know that?”
She gave a soft laugh. “Never forget that.”
How could I?
Linking our arms together, we’d started toward the living room when a soft knock rapped against the door.
My mother tensed, and her eyes narrowed. “If that’s him, I swear to God…”
She pulled away from me and stomped toward the door. Yeesh. If it was him, talk about bad timing. Shaking my head, I continued into the living room, desperate to sit again. My bones were healed, but I was still exhausted.
I lowered onto my favorite rocking chair and was eyeing the presents under the tree when I caught a familiar scent. One that was most certainly not my father.
I sprang to my feet.
Too fast. Too sudden. Too jarring.
I swayed and placed a hand against the back of my head, where I’d sustained the most damage. My skull was healing. But it was healing slower than the other bones I’d broken.
When I came to, I was sitting on the couch. Knox knelt in front of me, one hand on my shoulder while the other rested on his knee. Concern wrinkled his face, his scent anxious as he watched me.
“I’m all right,” I mumbled.
“I thought you were better,” he growled. “They told me you were fine.”
I blinked up at him, the edges of my vision still grey. Had he checked up on me? And why hadn’t I been told?
“Rumor…”
“I really am fine,” I whispered.
“You don’t seem fine.” He ducked his head and met my gaze.
“It’s only an issue if I move too fast. Otherwise, the headaches are improving.”
His hand shifted from my shoulder to my cheek. Warmth bloomed in my stomach, and I sank into his touch.
“I’m sorry I was gone for so long,” he murmured.
“Where were you?” I didn’t pull any punches. Even I could hear the annoyance in my voice.
He chuckled and leaned forward until his brow touched mine. “Missed me, did you? There were some changes I need to make. I told you that. I also told you that you deserved more.”
I frowned. What was he talking about?
“I couldn’t very well ask you to be my mate until I settled one small detail.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. Ask me to be his mate? Was that why he was here? “Wait, what small detail?”
A satisfied smile crossed his lips. “Forgot already, hey? What else was knocked loose from your head? The pack, ya goof.”
The pack? “Everything has been sorted out here already…”
“Not your pack. My pack.”
His pack. Then it clicked. Realization dawned on me, and I gasped. “You didn’t!”
>
“I did.”
Vacillating between pride and sympathy, I clutched at his hand. “Your brother?”
Darkness rimmed his eyes. “Dead. He refused to step down.”
Sympathy won. My shoulders rounded, and I leaned into him. “I’m so sorry.”
“There was no choice, Rumor. My brother was running my pack into the ground. It was my responsibility as the real alpha to step up and repair it.”
So many similarities between my pack and his. Both had been broken. And now, both had been restored by their rightful leaders. “You didn’t do it for me, did you?”
“No.” No hesitation in his answer. “Well, partly.”
I bit down on my lower lip.
“It would be a lie to say you weren’t part it. My brother has been controlling me my whole life. He actually forbade me at one point to take a mate. Something about how he didn’t have one, so I couldn’t. Not that I was ever interested in anyone other than you. But it was more than that. My people were suffering. A sick alpha is a sick pack. It’s been a day, and already they’re healing.”
“Knox…”
“And now I’m here for you.”
My breath caught in my throat.
“Rumor Hayes, you’re everything I’ve ever wanted. Even when you piss me off, I want you. I think I’ve been half in love with you since the first time I saw you. We were six years old, and you, the little shit you were, threw a snowball right in my face.”
I laughed. I remembered that moment well. It’d been the start of what I’d thought was a long rivalry.
“And when I growled at you, you puffed up your chest and told me I’d have to do better than that if I was going to scare an alpha’s daughter.”
Groaning, I buried my head in my hands.
“Well, I think I’ve improved on my growl, wouldn’t you say? And I’m more than half in love with you, now.”
I lifted my head. “Still don’t scare me.”
“Good.” He captured my hands between his and rubbed his thumb over my knuckles. “So, what do you say?”
I eyed him playfully. “You didn’t go and make any deals with the fae did you? No promises of children for strength and power?”
Exasperated laughter spilled from his lips. “My power is all mine, baby.”
“Perfect. Then my answer is yes.” I leaned forward and kissed him. “Merry Christmas, Knox.”
“Merry Christmas, Rumor.”
* * *
***
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Howling For Her Alpha
A Howls Romance: Howlsday Book 2
Nothing in this world was worse than attending a wedding on Valentine’s Day.
Or, so I thought.
Add in the little tidbit that I was single, and this was the worse night of my life. Who held their wedding on the worst day of the year? They’d surrounded me with enough papier-mâché hearts, ribbon, and chocolate to sink a battleship. Honestly, I’d never imagined Rumor Hayes capable of such evil. Or such…romance. She was the steeliest werewolf I knew. The woman could stare down a wolf twice her size without breaking a sweat. Hell, she’d recently killed a member of the fae court. It didn’t get any ballsier than that. So, why a Valentine’s Day wedding? Was it just to rub our faces in her happiness?
Ugh. Kill me now. Take me out to pasture and put a bullet in my head. I’ll thank you for it later.
At least there was alcohol. And wasn’t booze supposed to solve all my problems?
Ha.
Maybe my larger than life problems were just too big for my sad little tequila and lime to conquer. Imagine if it could, though? Mm. Magic booze. Now that was something I could buy into.
I leaned back in my chair with a wistful sigh and surrendered to my liquor-induced fantasies. Ones that included me dancing the night away in Mathis’s arms. Hey, it was a wedding. Who cared if we knocked back a few shots? And after all the clinking glasses and endless toasts, I needed to indulge. If I had to listen to one more sickening speech about how perfect Rumor and Knox were together, I would scream.
Lucky bastards.
I didn’t stand a chance with Mathis. He was our alpha, and damn near perfect. But me? I was nothing more than a hindrance. A shiftless wolf-born who barely ranked in the pack.
Awesome.
My entire life, I’d waited for that special moment. I’d watched as all my friends grew into their magic, but not me. That day had never come. Maybe I couldn’t shift like them, but I refused to let that slow me down.
Mathis, however, was an entirely different matter. An alpha like him needed a strong mate, and that was something I wasn’t. Though my kind was rare, we were all the same. Born to werewolf parents, but human. Hell, one of my pack members had even bitten me when I younger, to no effect. Something about our genetics refused to let us change. Not to mention, those like me were lucky enough to find a mate at all, cursed as we were. Few were willing to risk passing on this gene to their own children. As I said, cursed. Hence, the tequila. If I couldn’t have my heart’s desire, maybe I’d drink myself into a stupor instead.
Still, Mathis was the man I fantasized about every single night. It didn’t help that whenever we were alone, there was this light in his eyes. A spark of possible interest. Not to mention, the little secretive smile he’d offer me before continuing on his way. Stupid to think it meant anything, though, right? Nothing more than a pitiful smile for the poor, shiftless human.
“Juniper?”
I twitched at the sound of my name and slitted an eyelid. The room spun in slow circles, but I could make out a blurred figure.
“Hey! Piper!” I raised my glass and forced a cheer before tossing back the rest of my drink. “To…marital bliss!”
“God, Juniper. How many have you had?”
How many? More than I had fingers and toes to count. “Sit, girl, sit! Have a drink with me.”
Her fuzzier bits moved toward me. I think.
“You’re drunk!” she accused.
“Mm. Thank you.”
Piper was one the few friends I had. The others in the pack tolerated me. Barely. But Piper…she’d always taken me under her wing…or paw. She leaned over and snatched the glass out of my hand, then took a whiff, her nose wrinkling. Yup, bet that stunk. Tequila wasn’t kind on the dullest of senses.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” she demanded. “This isn’t like you.”
I swayed forward in my seat. Geez. From the look on her face, you’d think someone had told her I’d murdered her best friend. Oh, wait. That was me, and I was partially dead inside, so… “In case you haven’t noticed, it’s a wedding. Everyone’s drinking.”
“Yeah, but not everyone is the damn Maid of Honor!”
True. And hadn’t that been a surprise. When Rumor had asked me to fill that role, I’d nearly swooned. Not actually, of course. I would rather die before exposing that side of myself, but inside, I’d screamed. Rumor Hayes had asked me to be her MoH.
I eyed Piper. “So? Hard part’s done. Now, I get to relax and bask in my job well done.”
“The hard part is not done. Conrad is here.”
Her words were a cold splash of water. My smile vanished, and I straightened in my seat. “What?”
“Conrad…” She dragged out his name. “He can’t be here. Rumor doesn’t need this. So, someone needs to get rid of him.”
“And that someone is…me?” I swallowed.
“You’re the MoH.”
Oh, boy. Some days I wished I knew how to growl. This had nothing to do with being the MoH. No one wanted to deal with Conrad. So, somewhere down the line, they’d nominated me.
Jackasses.
I studied the room through a tipsy haze.
Conrad was our former alpha, and the man who had raised Rumor. Wh
ich was all bad news bears because two months ago, he’d been the root of a whole lot of trouble in our pack.
Turns out our dear alpha had been born at the bottom of the totem pole, like the rest of us plebs. Yearning for power, he’d made a deal with a fae named Alasdair. In return for enough power to hold his own pack, Conrad had promised him a child. As part of the agreement, he’d allowed Alasdair to use glamor to impersonate him at night. Conrad's mate—Rumor’s mother—had never known the difference.
Handing over his mate like that…letting another impregnate her…the thought gave me chills. I’d never liked Conrad, but damn, now I loathed the wretched beast.
Afterward, according to the rumor mill, Conrad had reneged on the final half of the deal. Once Rumor turned twenty-one, Alasdair had expected Conrad to turn her over. But he’d had other plans for her—like mating her off to another pack to strengthen ties.
Dude was all kinds of shady.
Thankfully, Rumor had put a stop to it all by killing her biological fae father. His death had broken the spell, and Conrad had returned to the submissive prick he was. From head honcho to nothing in no time flat. Needless to say, he was no longer the alpha of our pack.
Then Mathis had stepped up, which had destroyed any dream I’d ever had of us being together.
Thanks for that, Conrad.
“Juniper!” Piper hissed. “We can’t let Rumor or Knox see him.”
My head bobbed as I pondered our limited options. A head that wasn’t quite in the game yet. One—or three—too many tequilas. Might liven up the wedding to see some blood spilled. No. No, that was the alcohol talking. Death equaled bad. Had to remember that one. Even though I had an ongoing bet with myself about how long Conrad would last. A lot of people wanted him dead, his former mate included. Couldn’t blame her.
But, this was about Rumor. And her wedding. So, I rocked to my feet and stumbled across the room. Huh. Maybe I’d had a few more than I’d realized. The ground felt off-kilter. Or maybe it was the four-inch spikes strapped to my feet.
A couple more steps and I spotted Conrad.
Damn.